Trump Card
by ack1308
Summary: Taylor gains powers in the locker; this much is familiar. But the power she gets, and what she does with it, begins to change things around considerably. Faced with the pressure of the power she has, and official apathy, she must make her own decisions, and take a different route to achieve her goals. There will be trouble.
1. Chapter 1

**Trump Card**

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><p>Part 1<p>

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><p><em>Disclaimers:<em>

_1) This story is set in the Wormverse, which is owned by Wildbow. Thanks for letting me use it._

_2) I will follow canon as closely as I can. If I find something that canon does not cover, then I will make stuff up. If canon then refutes me, then I will revise. Do not bother me with fanon; corrections require citations._

_3) I welcome criticism of my works, but if you tell me that something is wrong, I also expect an explanation of what is wrong, and a suggestion of how to fix it. Note that I do not promise to follow any given suggestion.__ Posting a negative review from an anonymous account is a good way to have said review deleted._

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><p><em>[Author's Note: Due to critiques made by readers, this fic has been rewritten to a certain degree. Some plot elements have changed, but the overall direction is the same.]<em>

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><p>I couldn't breathe. There was no air in the locker that wasn't tainted with the stench of the <em>things<em> that were sharing it with me. I couldn't breathe, and yet I had to, struggling and screaming and banging and retching.

And then something odd happened. Several odd things, in fact. At the time, it seemed as though everything happened at once, but afterward, I figured that there must have been a sequence of events, and an interval between them.

Looking back, the first odd thing was the spot of light that appeared on the side of the locker. It was so odd that my struggles and screams ceased, as if my brain were doing its best to distance itself from the horror of the situation by focusing on something new.

As bizarre as it seemed, the spot of light wasn't inside the locker at all. It was _outside,_ some little distance away, but it was moving nearer to me, to the locker. At some point, it must have dawned on me that I wasn't seeing it with my eyes, but this was immaterial, because the second odd thing then took my attention.

The spot of light was _speaking_ to me.

Not in words, nothing I could hear with my ears in the close, echoing confines of the locker, and nothing I could understand in any case, but there was meaning there, if I could just decipher it. It was a stream of data, almost intelligible, something like listening to someone speaking English in a very strong accent; if you listened long enough and attuned your ear to it, you could make sense of it.

And then, as the spot of light came closer, as the voice I heard without hearing grew louder, more clear, I made sense of it.

It said, _You don't have to be in here if you don't want to be._

I didn't want to be in there.

And suddenly, I wasn't.

I was sprawled on the floor of the hallway, in front of the locker, looking around me with some bewilderment; the odd thing being, of course, that I had exited my locker, and left the majority of its disgusting contents behind, while not actually opening the door in the process.

Standing nearby, with several of their cronies, were Emma, Madison ... and Sophia.

And the fourth odd thing occurred to me.

I could see each of them clearly. But Sophia ... Sophia was illuminated from within by that same spot of light. The light that was still communicating data to me, more and more of which was becoming intelligible, understandable.

And suddenly, I understood a great many things.

I knew who and what Sophia Hess really was.

I knew, or thought I knew, why she had gotten away with so much at Winslow.

I knew how she had performed some of her meaner pranks.

I knew, in fact, her greatest secret.

* * *

><p>As I struggled to my feet, I heard the girls speaking to each other.<p>

"Holy shit." That was Emma. "Did she just ...?"

"Stay back." Sophia. "I think ..."

"What the fuck just happened?" Madison.

I got myself upright and stood swaying. Small, blackened, horrid things peeled from my clothing and plopped to the floor. My eyes fixed on the small group.

"You," I growled. "Sophia _fucking_ Hess."

My fear, my terror, my disorientation ... it was all fading away, subsumed in a growing anger. I knew who the architect of my incarceration was. She was standing not a dozen feet from me. I lurched forward, nearly fell, regained my balance. Another step; it was becoming easier, despite the endless time I had spent trapped in the locker. My cramped muscles were becoming uncramped.

Sophia stepped forward as well, putting herself between me and the others.

"What the fuck, Hebert?" she snapped. "How did you do that?"

I laughed in her face; I couldn't help it. Her expression registered anger and confusion; she wasn't used to being mocked.

"How would _you_ do it?" I retorted, and swung my fist.

* * *

><p>It was a wild punch, but she was so taken aback by my laughter, my comment, that she didn't even try to dodge. I clocked her, right in the mouth.<p>

It wasn't a hard blow, having more of an effect via surprise than anything else. Nevertheless, Sophia took a step back. She put a hand to her mouth, checked her fingers for blood. There wouldn't have been any, but I wasn't going to stop there.

Stepping forward again, I swung at her once more.

This time, she reacted as she had obviously been trained; she caught my arm, half-turned me, locked it down, turned me all the way around, and got both my arms up behind my back.

"Okay, Hebert," she snapped. "We're going to –"

I wriggled free of her grip.

Actually, no, I did not.

There was no possible way I could have gotten free of her compliance hold; she was stronger than me, and although my arms are longer, she had the leverage and the training.

But the voice, now very close, whispered to me again.

_You don't have to let her hold you._

And so I didn't let her hold me. One moment, she was holding me, the next ... she wasn't.

I capitalised on my sudden advantage; driving an elbow back into her ribs – _that_ one would have hurt – I turned and punched her again.

Or swung, anyway.

Just before my fist would have made contact, she shimmered and went ghostly, just for an instant. The instant it took for my fist to traverse the space occupied by her head.

* * *

><p>I wasn't surprised. I knew what she could do, who she was. The voice had told me everything; or rather, it had told me all about her powers, and I had inferred from that who she was.<p>

She went solid, swung a fist at me. I evaded it, exactly the same way that she had. Her fist hit nothing except shadowy air.

I saw the shifts of emotion on her face. All of this had taken a very few seconds; she was just now coming to the realisation that not only did I have powers – the exact same powers that she had – but she had just now outed herself to those of her friends who were not in the know.

Over her shoulder, I saw Emma's face. She had seen the same thing that Sophia had; I was using powers. Madison was confused; Emma must have known about Sophia's powers ahead of time.

More clues were clicking into place, but I was busy. I swung at Sophia once more. Of course, she evaded it by going ghostly. But I went ghostly as well.

It was a strange sensation; all bodily life signs halted. No breathing, no heartbeat, nothing. But my fist still moved, and it connected with Sophia's immaterial face just fine.

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><p>We both went solid at the same time; Sophia had her hand to her face. "How the fuck did you do <em>that?"<em> she demanded.

"With great fucking satisfaction," I told her.

She was barely breathing hard; I was panting fairly heavily. More of the horrid items were falling off of my clothing. She glanced down at them, and then back up at me.

"You triggered," she realised. "In the locker. You triggered."

"If you say so," I replied with a shrug. "But you locked me in there, and you're fucking going _down_ for it."

She shook her head. "Not a chance, Hebert. I'm fitter than you, and a better fighter. And I've been doing this longer than you have."

"Really?" I asked. "So come on. This is your chance. Beat me up. Golden opportunity, right here."

I watched her hands. I watched her eyes.

And I 'listened' to the murmuring non-voice of the light-spot.

She came at me fast, practised. She knew what she was doing, all right.

Unfortunately for her, I _also_ knew what she was doing.

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><p>It wasn't quite anticipation. But her powers were explaining themselves to me, in detail. And so I knew what little tricks she had worked out with them. And I knew what would work best in any given situation.<p>

So I had a fair idea what she was going to do, even before she did it.

The small crowd of spectators was growing by the moment, even as we passed _through_ each other. She'd been going to go shadow, then go solid almost at the point of contact, hitting me hard then going shadow again before I could hit back.

I went shadow when she went solid, then matched her transitions. Her shadow body passing through me gave me a little chill, but I shook it off and turned fast. I went shadow, instants before she would have hit me, then went solid just in time to kick her in the side of the knee.

Going shadow again, I reformed standing up. It made life so much easier.

* * *

><p>"What the fuck?" she muttered, stepping back warily from me. I couldn't kick as hard as she could, but she was limping slightly. "How the <em>fuck<em> are you doing that?"

I grinned tightly. "I'm not the fighter you are. And I'm not a runner. But I'm as good with my powers as you are. Maybe better. You can't use 'em to cheat, not in this fight. You're gonna _lose."_

That brought fire into her eyes. "You just said the wrong thing, Hebert," she gritted. "I don't lose. Not _ever._ And definitely not to a pathetic little nothing like you."

My grin widened. "First time for everything."

* * *

><p>I had been slightly mistaken. I couldn't pick <em>everything<em> she was going to do. I had thought she would try once more to gain the upper hand with her powers – Sophia was nothing if not stubborn. But she didn't. She simply launched herself at me, a fist swinging in a smooth arc.

If I had been even two feet closer, she would have clocked me hard enough to put me out for the duration. But I wasn't. I had just enough time to register _what the fuck?_ and jerk my head back, almost out of the way. She still clipped my cheekbone, and my head jerked back, my ears ringing.

But then my instincts took over, and even as she tried to tackle me to the floor as a follow-up, I went to shadow. She came through as well, trying to wrestle me into submission.

But here was her problem; she had never had any experience in dealing with other insubstantial capes, who used her brand of powers. And the behaviour of things in that realm was not quite the same as in the real world. Sophia had no baseline to work from.

But the murmuring non-voice was filling me in on things I _could_ do, if I wanted. I considered options for half a second, then moved my shadow-body around hers in a way that would have been utterly impossible if we were both solid. She grabbed, and missed, because I wasn't there any more.

I was behind her. Taking hold of her. Bracing myself in a way that should have been impossible in a shadow state – except that I had figured out how to let the soles of my shoes, only the barest layer of rubber, extrude from the shadow state. Against the vinyl of the school corridor, I had _excellent_ traction.

In the shadow state, Sophia struggled as I shoved her, hard. Her mouth opened, working; if we'd been in the real world, where air acted like air, she might have screamed. Because I was shoving her toward the wall. Where we both knew there were very likely electrical conduits.

She could have gone solid, but of course I would have done the same, and she would have face-planted the wall. So she didn't. And I shoved her into the wall.

And what do you know, there _were_ electrical conduits in there.

I felt her convulse – I only held her there for a split second; I didn't want to _kill_ her – and then I pulled her out of the wall again. Stunned or unconscious, she went solid when I did. It seemed to be a proximity thing. Or maybe a safety thing.

"Right," I panted. "Now I'll -"

"Now you'll do what?"

The new voice came from behind me. At the same time, there was a subtle pressure in my mind. I turned my head, not letting Sophia out of my eyesight.

Twelve feet away, a young man stood, wearing an easily recognisable costume.

Velocity, of the Protectorate.

Sophia groaned and forced herself upward.

_"Help,"_ she croaked.

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><p>"Clear the corridor!" called Velocity. "Everyone back, out of the way!"<p>

I stood there, irresolute, as Sophia painfully scrambled to her feet. She was recovering rapidly; I suspected that I should have held her there longer. If I attacked her, Velocity would defend her. And I didn't want to fight _him. _He was a _real_ hero, unlike Sophia.

Everyone moved back, apart from me and Sophia. Emma had already been keeping them back a ways; now they were well beyond earshot.

I looked at Velocity. He could move faster than I could think; if I even considered attacking him, then I would lose. Being able to turn insubstantial would not help me in the slightest, there.

And then, as I focused on him, I made an interesting discovery. If I concentrated, I could move the spot of light from Sophia, to Velocity. I could even move it back, if I wanted. But I didn't want to.

Focusing it on Velocity, the data stream changed, dramatically. I could understand it more than I had originally with Sophia, but I supposed that it was due to familiarity with the 'accent'.

It was all about Velocity's powers.

_Huh._

"Uh, can I say something?" I ventured.

Velocity eyed me warily. "If you come peacefully, you'll have your chance to speak," he advised me.

"No," I stated flatly. "I want to say something, now. Here."

He compressed his lips. "Make it quick. And don't bother making a run for it. You've got the same powers as she does. We know all the counters to her powers, and she could never outrun me."

I took a deep breath. "My name is Taylor Hebert. Sophia's been bullying me for months," I rattled off, as rapidly as I could. "She and her friends locked me in my own locker with all this shit. That's why I attacked her. I want them punished. They did the wrong thing, not me."

I stopped for breath. Velocity was staring at me, as was Sophia.

"How the – how did you do that?" he demanded.

"Did you even hear me?" I asked.

"Oh, I _heard_ you," he replied.

"Heard what?" asked Sophia. "She coughed, or something."

"This girl just made a statement to me at roughly one hundred to one compression speed. I understood it perfectly. What I want to know is, how is _she_ able to speak that quickly?"

Sophia stared at me. "Oh shit," she muttered.

"Oh shit indeed," replied Velocity. "She doesn't have _your_ powers."

He turned to look at me.

"She's a power copier."

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><p>End of Part 1<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Trump Card**

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><p>Part 2: Flashbacks<p>

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><p>"How's your tea?" asked Miss Militia.<p>

I sipped at it, then sipped some more. It helped calm my nerves.

"It's good," I confessed. "Really good."

Beside me, Dad put his coffee cup down with a definitive _clunk._

"Can we get past the ass-kissing and deal with the problem at hand here?" he asked. He wasn't angry - yet - but I could tell that he was on the way there.

"Yes," decided Director Piggot. "Let's."

Her gaze roved around the table, from Velocity to myself and Dad, Miss Militia, Aegis, and finally Shadow Stalker.

"You all know what we're here about," she stated. "The incident at Winslow, this morning. Where one of our Wards apparently shut an innocent girl into her own locker with toxic waste, and left her there."

I stared at her. "Excuse me, what?"

"Yes, Miss Hebert?"

I felt my voice rising; I tried to control it, but there it was. "There's no 'apparently' about it. It _happened_. To _me_. I -"

Director Piggot cut me off with a raised hand. "Miss Hebert, kindly contain yourself. This is a serious undertaking - "

"A serious waste of time, you mean," I interrupted. "Cover your ass all the way. Downplay what Sophia was supposed to have done, until there's nothing to answer for. And if I try to get redress elsewhere, _I'm_ the bad guy."

_"Mr Hebert."_ Her voice should have turned the air in the room to solid ice. "Kindly tell your daughter to cease disrupting the proceedings."

"I'm not sure why I should," Dad told her, in a calm, measured tone of voice. "She does have a point. I've been in the odd negotiation before now, and a key tactic is to use language that downplays the other side's position." He pushed his glasses up his nose slightly. "Why are you doing that, exactly? After all, my daughter _was_ locked into her locker, there _is_ evidence of what was in there with her, and she _has_ named Sophia Hess, among others, as her tormentor in this case."

He wasn't shouting, and he wasn't overriding her. I saw now my mistake in doing both. This gave her the perfect excuse to shut me down.

She looked uncomfortable for the first time. "I understand that the locker incident did happen. But the school has been interviewing the girls in question, and they claim innocence in the matter. Furthermore, it appears that the faculty is – at least in part – backing them up."

I shook my head violently. "They're lying! Covering their asses! They've been letting this shit go on since – fuck, since I _started_ at Winslow! And you're believing _them_ over _me_?"

Director Piggot cleared her throat. "Language, Miss Hebert. I will not warn you a second time."

I breathed deeply for a few moments. "Sorry. Sorry. It's just that -"

Dad put his hand on my shoulder. "Kiddo, take a breath," he advised. Then he looked at Piggot, and his eyes were angry. "You're doing it again, Director," he told her. "She was bullied for more than a year, she was shut in a locker. And you're pulling her up for _swearing_? I see exactly what you're doing."

He deliberately turned away from her, dismissing her, to address me. "Classic technique. Cause the opposition to retract something, to apologise, and they're on the back foot from then on, more ready to offer concessions."

I felt anger overcoming the brief feeling of guilt. "Director Piggot. Are you even going to _listen_ when I say that Shadow Stalker's been bullying me for months? Or have you already made up your mind not to do anything about it?"

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><p><strong>Earlier<strong>

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><p><em>"Okay, Velocity, once more, from the top." <em>

_Velocity looked ill at ease, seated in the chair before the Director's desk._

_"I got the call that Shadow Stalker was fighting someone at Winslow, with her own powers. I think the Barnes girl sent it in. When I got there, they were both in shadow form, and I didn't know who was who. Then one of them pulled the other one out of the wall, and dropped her, and they changed to normal, and one of them was Shadow Stalker, and the other one ... wasn't."_

_Piggot glared. "Why did you even stop to talk to the girl, rather than just taking her down hard? She had already attacked Shadow Stalker."_

_"Look, I know it looked bad. But Shadow Stalker was still moving. The Hebert girl was talking. She could have killed Hess, but she didn't. I've been trained to de-escalate situations, and I figured that it might work in this case. So I decided to find out what she wanted."_

_"You took a huge chance with an unknown factor, Swoyer," snapped the Director. "You should have taken her down and brought her in. A dangerous cape ..."_

_Velocity took a deep breath. "Director, I don't want to tell you how to do your job –"_

_"Then don't," growled Piggot._

_" – but you haven't been out and about with Shadow Stalker. I have. She has an ... attitude problem."_

_"She's a probationary Ward with an attempted manslaughter charge hanging over her head. Two and a half years of being a solitary vigilante in Brockton Bay before we brought her into the Wards. That will breed a certain attitude. One which we need to iron out of her, yes, but understandable that it is there in the first place. Your point being?"_

_"My point being, Director, is that I'm actually fairly good at reading body language. When I arrived, I got the impression that Shadow Stalker was overacting. Pretending to be hurt worse than she really was."_

_Piggot was silent for a long moment. "So you're saying that you believe that Shadow Stalker tried to incite you to attack with overwhelming force, so that the Hebert girl would never have a chance to say her piece."_

_"Or that we'd never believe her, given that she'd just taken down Shadow Stalker," agreed Velocity. "But when she told me what she did, at a speed only I could pick up, it changed the whole equation. Made me wonder if there wasn't more to the situation, something going on that we didn't know about."_

_"Well, we'll know more in a few moments," the Director noted. "Miss Militia's interviewing her now. By the time she's finished, I'll know whether to commend you for initiative, bust you down to probationary member, or hit the Endbringer siren."_

_Velocity searched the Director's features. She appeared to be serious on all counts. He swallowed involuntarily._

* * *

><p>I looked up as the slim woman with the flag-print scarf entered the blank, spare room. There was a chair, moderately comfortable, and a table. There was another chair on the other side of the table, and a large mirror on the wall beyond. I had seen enough cop shows to know what was beyond the mirror.<p>

I wasn't handcuffed, which was a small mercy; however, the door had been locked from the outside, so the lack of handcuffs was only a detail. I had been allowed to shower; the jumpsuit I wore fitted well enough vertically, but bagged out on me like a clown suit. Still, it was clean and dry.

I knew the newcomer immediately, of course. More to the point, I _knew_ her, all the details of her power. The spot of light resided in her now. Immediately, I began to learn all about _guns._ Weapons of all sort, to be honest, but guns seemed to be a really, really big part of it. I knew how they worked, what made them fail, and a host of other things about them. And perhaps most interestingly, I found that I could recall every single aspect of the fight with Sophia in the most exacting detail.

"Hi?" I greeted Miss Militia. "Am I under arrest, or ...?"

"Your status is, at the moment, fluid," she replied bluntly. "You attacked a Ward, assaulted her in a potentially lethal manner. You also caused her secret identity to be exposed to other students in the school. The criminal charges resulting from such an act are quite severe."

"But I didn't mean to do _that _bit," I protested. "I didn't force her to use her powers."

"Did you know she had powers when you attacked her, using powers of your own?" she asked.

I nodded. "I can feel when people have powers. They have to be fairly close. But I know who I can tap powers from, and who I can't."

"Are you using your powers right now?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Who are you tapping from?"

I held up my hand, opened it to show her a small pocket knife. "Does it feel really weird to know that you're armed every second of the day?" I asked her, placing the tiny weapon on the table between us.

* * *

><p>I held up my hand, opened it to show her a small pocket knife. "Doesn't it feel really weird to know that you're armed every second of the day?" I asked her, placing the tiny weapon on the table between us.<p>

I had not even considered attacking Miss Militia, of course. For a start, she was a real hero, just as Velocity was. She'd been a founding member of the _Wards_, and had since gone on to serve with distinction in the Protectorate. Plus, as much as I knew about her powers - and I knew a _lot_ - I felt a lot less confident about trying to overpower her with my borrowed powers. She'd had _decades_ to learn how to get it right. And finally, even if I managed to get the drop on her, I did not doubt that the room would fill with containment foam instants after I tried something.

Besides, it wasn't _her_ that I had the grief with.

* * *

><p>She shrugged slightly. "I got over it. It's been a very long time. Since I was younger than you are." She paused for a moment. "So, why did you assume that Sophia was the one who had shut you in the locker?"<p>

"Because it's her style," I told her bitterly. "There's three of them. Emma Barnes, Madison Clements, and Sophia. Emma does the stuff that hurts my feelings, Madison thinks up pranks, and Sophia does the physical stuff. Like tripping me down stairs, or throwing all my clothes in the shower. Trust me, this is not the first incident. Or the second. Or the tenth. They do this to me _all the fucking time."_

Miss Militia frowned. "I had to deal with a little hazing, as a female Ward, who didn't speak English all that well, when I started … "

I had to laugh; it came out bitter, harsh. "This is not _hazing."_ Shaking my head, I continued. "You know, I used to dream about calling you guys up, having you come in and stop them all. I never thought that involving superheroes would make this _worse_."

Her frown deepened. "Here's my problem. Your story sounds convincing. Very convincing. But then, so do theirs. And Sophia Hess is a _Ward_. So, against your word, and the evidence of the locker, we have the word of a superhero and two other students. You see how this puts us between a rock and a hard place."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, you and every _goddamn_ teacher at Winslow!"

She seemed taken aback. "Beg pardon?"

I got up from the chair. It probably looked bad, but I was so agitated that I had to move, to pace.

"It's the story I get every _single goddamn_ time I try to complain. My word against theirs. Emma Barnes is the most popular girl in school, so when her friends back her up, and I've got no-one to back me up, guess who they believe? _Shit!"_ I slammed my hands on to the back of my chair. "Why would you be any different? You're all the same."

"Calm down," she advised me. "Acting out in this manner will only make you look worse."

I took a deep breath. Tears were running down my cheeks. "Why the hell _should_ I? Nothing I say or do matters. I'm a liar, I'm not to be believed. She's won. _Again_. No evidence I show matters, or counts."

"Well, no," she agreed. "Anything that you tell us about what she is supposed to have done will easily be countered by her own testimony that she did not." Her eyes were full of sympathy; I felt that she wanted to help me, but did not know how.

I stopped. Stared at her.

"How about … written testimony?" I asked carefully.

She frowned again. "If you write something out, it's the same as saying it … " she ventured.

I shook my head. "No. _Previously_ written testimony."

She tilted her head. "That could work. Do you have something like that?"

I nodded. "I need to make a call."

* * *

><p><em>"Hello, this is the Dockworker's Association. Danny speaking."<em>

"Dad, it's me."

_"Taylor? What's the matter? Why aren't you attending class?"_

"Dad, I have a problem. I need your help. Please."

I sensed the change in the tone of his voice. _"What do you need?"_

"I need you to go home, and go to my bedroom. There's a stack of papers in my wardrobe, on the second shelf ..."

* * *

><p><em>Director Piggot leafed through the sheets. "And Miss Hebert had no time alone to write this all up?"<em>

_Miss Militia shook her head. "She did not. She simply had her father fetch them from home."_

_Piggot turned over a few more pages. "And this is just from September. Christ."_

_"According to her, the bullying has been going on since the previous September."_

_Director Piggot tapped the pages. "Shadow Stalker became a Ward at almost the same time as this particular record begins. This is where our responsibility lies."_

_Miss Militia nodded. "I need to ask Shadow Stalker some stringent questions."_

_"You realise that she will simply tell you what she thinks you need to know."_

_"I know. I'll ask her anyway."_

* * *

><p>I looked up as the armoured figure entered my room. Wavy brown hair, red and gold armour …<p>

"Oh, hi," I greeted him. "Kid Win, right?"

He nodded. "Miss Militia's tracking stuff down, so she asked me to sit in with you. You being a Trump and all, I was the one they had to worry least about."

As the nearest cape, the spot of light zeroed in on him. I didn't force it to stop.

Immediately, his power started talking to me, building designs and constructs in my mind. "Wow."

"Wow what?" he asked.

"Your power. It's really cool."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, well. It's not the greatest. I have trouble finishing projects."

I frowned. "No, really. What's the best thing you've built so far?"

"A flying skateboard. But I've got it half pulled apart, because I needed to use the parts in something else."

I could _see_ the flying skateboard, envisage it, see the schematics in my head.

"So you don't know your speciality yet?" I asked.

"Not really," he grumbled. "I've built all sorts of cool stuff, but none of it seems to really work better than anything else, or is easier to build, or anything."

"Maybe it's not a thing," I suggested, listening to the non-voice. "Maybe it's a _way_ to build stuff."

He turned to me, his frown visible behind the visor. "I'm not sure what you're getting at."

I waved my hands. "Maybe you _need_ to be able to take your stuff apart, to use the parts in different gadgets. Plug and play, that sort of thing. Multiple use?"

His eyes opened really wide. "Modular?"

I nodded. "That's the word. Look, what have you built so far? Let's go over them one at a time, and see how they could be done modular."

He grinned. "Okay."

* * *

><p><em>"Shadow Stalker, I need to speak to you. Now."<em>

_"Can't it wait? I'm kind of busy. I need to get back to school."_

_"**Now**," repeated Miss Militia implacably._

_Shadow Stalker came to a reluctant halt. "What about?"_

_"The girl we brought in. Taylor Hebert. Did you lock her in her locker?"_

_"No, I already told you that!" she protested._

_"And yet she says you did."_

_"That's because she's a liar," Sophia snapped._

_"You're very ready with that accusation," Miss Militia observed mildly. "What would you say if I said I was inclined to believe her?"_

_"That you've been taken in," Sophia told her immediately. "That she's manipulative and deceptive. She tells all sorts of stories about me and Emma and Madison. No-one believes them any more."_

_"None of the teachers we spoke to mentioned her telling any stories," Miss Militia pointed out softly. "And the locker was no story, no lie." She fixed her gaze on Shadow Stalker. "She also mentioned valuables going missing from her locker. She thought someone was figuring out her locker code, but there are other ways to bypass a locked door. Aren't there, **Shadow Stalker**?"_

_"If you're going to accuse me, accuse me," snapped Shadow Stalker._

_"I don't need to," Miss Militia told her. "Hand me your phone, please."_

_"What?" blurted Shadow Stalker. "My phone?"_

_Miss Militia nodded. "Your phone."_

_"But this is my personal, private -"_

_"You're on probation. You don't **get** to have personal or private **anything**. Hand it over. Now."_

_Wordlessly, reluctantly, Shadow Stalker handed over the phone._

* * *

><p>" - and if you rebuild it so the power source can be plugged in via the socket we've put in the rear quarter," I told him, "the whole thing could be broken down and the power supply and the lift panels could be reused at a moment's notice."<p>

"Holy shit," he murmured, looking at the schematic he was projecting on the wall from a small device on his gauntlet. "That could work. That could really _work."_

I nodded. "Of course it will work. We're _Tinkers_. Mere physics has to run and hide when we come around."

The door opened, just as we started laughing; I didn't hear it.

"Well," I heard from behind me, "you're less distraught than I thought you'd be."

I stopped laughing and spun around.

"Dad!" I was out of my chair and running into his arms.

* * *

><p>"They told me what happened, kiddo," he told me, holding me tightly.<p>

I held him just as tightly. "I bet they didn't tell you everything."

"I just bet," he agreed. He looked at Kid Win. "Hello. Are you the guard?"

The armoured Ward grinned disarmingly. "Hardly. Just giving her someone to talk to. It's been educational."

"Learning something of how a Tinker does stuff, huh, Taylor?" he teased me gently.

"Actually, it's the other way around," Kid Win confessed. "Your daughter just schooled me in the use of my own power. I'm very impressed."

There was a knock on the door, and then it opened to reveal Miss Militia. "Mr Hebert, Miss Hebert, the Director will see you now."

I looked at Dad. "Shall we?"

He nodded, taking my arm.

"So," he commented as we exited the drab, bare room. "What's this about you having powers anyway ...?"

* * *

><p><strong>The Present<strong>

* * *

><p>"We have <em>some<em> idea of what she's done to you," admitted Piggot. "Your written record, correlated with texts she has sent back and forth, seems to present solid evidence." She paused. "But that's not what we're here to talk about."

"So what _are_ we here to talk about?" I asked.

"A very delicate matter," admitted Director Piggot. "You are a Trump; you tap into the powers of whatever cape is near to you at the moment, correct?"

I nodded. "It doesn't have to be the nearest cape, but that's the easiest," I replied.

"Kid Win and Velocity both reported that you seemed to be remarkably quick at grasping the uses of their respective powersets," observed Miss Militia. "Who are you drawing from, now?"

"Kid Win, actually," I told her. "He's still in range. We were conferring on how to make his Tinker work more effective -"

I cut myself off. They were staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

Velocity pointed at the pad in front of me. I hadn't even been aware of holding the pen or drawing with it, but the top page was covered in an intricate diagram. I glanced at it, and it became a three-dimensional model in my mind, complete in every detail.

"Oh." It was all I could say.

"If I could have a look?" prompted Miss Militia.

Velocity slid the pad down to her, and she studied the diagram.

"I ... have no idea what this does, but I'd like to take it to Kid Win," she requested.

I nodded; she tore off the page and carefully folded it, before placing it in a pocket. "Director, I will restate what Velocity and Kid Win have already mentioned. She grasps the nuances of our powers very quickly indeed."

Her tone was so unexpected, so full of praise, that I blushed furiously. Dad squeezed my hand.

"Well, then. Miss Hebert."

I looked around at the Director. "Yes, ma'am?"

"In light of the evidence which has been presented, it seems clear that you are not at fault here. There will be no charges laid for the assault on Shadow Stalker, or the potential unmasking of a Ward."

I raised a hand. "_I_ kinda got outed too."

She nodded. "We have people talking to those students and teachers. Believe me, they are being warned in no uncertain terms to keep their mouths shut over the whole affair."

Dad raised his head. "And are we being warned to shut up, too? Taylor was victimised for over a year. By _your_ Ward. Where is her compensation coming from?"

Piggot looked uncomfortable again. "That was an ongoing situation that we accidentally inherited. Were I you, I would take it up with the school, and the parents of the children involved."

"But you're at least _partially_ responsible for letting it go on," I argued.

She nodded. "And in recognition of that, as I said, we're dropping all legal consequences for what could have been a very serious offence. Also ..." She took a breath. "I would like to kindly ask you if you would like to join the Brockton Bay Wards program."

I looked at Dad. He looked at me. I took a deep breath.

"No." I paused. "Actually, let me rephrase that.

_"Hell_ no."

* * *

><p>End of Part 2<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part 3<p>

* * *

><p>"<em>Hell<em> no."

The reaction was immediate. Everyone began talking at once. Everyone, that is, except myself, Dad ... and Shadow Stalker.

_Huh._

She was now sitting bolt upright in her seat, staring at me. I couldn't make out her expression behind the scowling-woman mask she wore, but I could tell that her dark eyes were fixed on mine.

" – for your own good –" That was Director Piggot.

Experimentally, I concentrated and moved the spot of light to Sophia. It wasn't hard; the more I did it, the easier it was. Immediately, I began getting the familiar data-stream explaining to me what I could do with her powers.

" – need more heroes in the city –" Velocity's input.

I already knew most of it, so I shifted the focus of my power to Aegis, beside her.

The data-stream started up again. It wasn't quite a voice, nor really a sensation. If anything, it was as if the knowledge was accreting on my consciousness. Just tapping into the power gave me knowledge of how to use it. The longer I held the power, the closer I was to the owner of that power, the more I knew how to use the little tricks and cheats that the owner had worked out in their own time.

Aegis could fly; he hadn't done much with that. But I knew what parts of the body would stand up to the most strain, how much damage he could take before he was severely incapacitated (a lot) and what the best organs were to take over the functions of other organs. The pancreas, for instance worked great as a secondary liver, but it was substandard when replacing a kidney.

I shifted the spot again, to Miss Militia.

" – really help round out the Wards –" Even Aegis had something to say.

I had been there before, tapped into Miss Militia's powers. Under the table, a knife formed in my hand. Then it was a gun, then a knuckleduster. With these powers, I knew, I could kill Sophia before the others could even react.

I shuddered and moved the spot of light along before temptation could go farther than speculation.

" – be interested in knowing your reasons –" Miss Militia was also talking, but not trying to out-shout the others.

The light spot settled on Velocity, and I activated the power. The world seemed to slow for me, and I had all the time in the world to think. Not that I needed that long.

I stood up. They all quieted, looking at me.

"Before we go any farther with this," I said quietly, "there's something we need to address."

"Which is?" asked Director Piggot.

"What _is_ going to happen to Sophia?"

She coughed, and glanced down the table at Shadow Stalker. _So. I was right._

"You're not sending her to juvey, are you?" I stated, before she could speak.

"We –" she began.

"You're not even kicking her out of the Wards, _are_ you?" I went on, my voice rising.

Silence fell, the more damning the longer it rolled on.

* * *

><p>It was Miss Militia who spoke up. "We can't."<p>

I turned to face her, still standing. "Why? Why the hell not? You saw what she did! You _know_ what she did!" I slammed both fists on the table, making them all jump. "For fuck's sake, she shut me in my fucking _locker!"_

"We're _dealing_ with that." Piggot's voice was calm. "Shadow Stalker will be disciplined to be extent that we are able. She is a probationary Ward; proceedings will be started to send her to juvenile detention. But it will not be a short process." She raised her voice slightly. "Now, kindly _sit down."_

I sat. My hands were shaking; Dad took hold of one and squeezed it comfortingly.

"So why _can't_ you shove Sophia Hess into the deepest, darkest hole you have and throw away the key?" I asked bitterly.

Miss Militia sighed. "We'd dearly love to. But ... we can't do it. Not right away."

"Why not?" asked Dad. "What's the holdup?"

"Removing a Ward from the position is tricky when the Ward is not willing to go," explained the Director. "There are procedures that need to be followed."

"And ...?" I demanded.

"And sending her to juvenile detention requires a court date," Miss Militia explained. "While we have her phone, your written record, these are just raw evidence. Allegations. They need to be cross-referenced, checked for inconsistencies, entered into the record, and so on. She gets legal counsel, who also gets to go over the evidence, and a court date is set. But until she goes to court, she's still a Ward, for PR purposes. Just yanking her from the lineup, throwing her in jail ... we can't do that, any more than the ordinary courts can."

"So ... this means that she gets to stay in the _Wards?"_ I demanded, incredulous.

Aegis let out a humourless laugh. "More or less. For appearances' sake. Until she goes through court, the paperwork is all filed, and it's all made official. _Then_ she officially retires from the Wards, and Sophia Hess ends up in juvenile detention."

Everyone looked at him.

"What?" he asked. "I read the guidelines too. I like to know what's going on."

Looking back to me, Miss Militia nodded. "He's essentially correct. Wards can _quit_ at any time. But to be _fired_, there's a whole book of procedures that has to be followed."

She muttered something under her breath, something about "youth guard" that I didn't catch.

I frowned. "So is this what's been happening to date? Sophia bullying me and getting away with it?"

Director Piggot shook her head. "No, but it seems that the person we've had overseeing Shadow Stalker's tenure at Winslow has been taking less care than she should have been." She frowned. "I'm going to be addressing _that_ during her exit interview."

_Well, at least **one** person's going to be fired over this._ But I drew cold comfort from the fact.

"So here and now," I pressed. "Shadow Stalker's not going to be fired? Not going to juvenile detention?"

"Not _immediately,_ no," the Director admitted. "We will be pushing forward the court appearances, but such things follow their own pace, I'm afraid. And if Shadow Stalker decides not to make it easy on us ..."

She gave Sophia a distasteful look.

Sophia sneered back at her. "Yeah, I'll go quietly. Like hell."

"Shadow Stalker, _shut up_," Aegis advised her quietly but urgently. She shot him a poisonous glance, but closed her mouth.

"Seriously, what the hell?" I blurted, not caring that I was swearing in a room full of adults. "You're going to leave her in a team full of impressionable _kids,_ until she finally goes through court and gets sent to juvey, and expect that to turn out _well?"_

Director Piggot shook her head. "Oh – no, no, you have the wrong impression altogether."

I stopped, halfway to my feet again. "How do you mean?"

"I _mean_," she told me, "that she will not be partaking in any regular public activities. Publicity shots, yes. Endbringer truce, yes. Regular patrols, no. In fact, she will effectively be confined to base when on duty, or under house arrest when not."

"Which means that we'll be down one Ward when it comes to going out on patrol," commented Aegis.

"We _could_ do with a talented and flexible power like yours to round out the Wards," suggested the Director.

I snorted. "With Sophia there? Not a hope in hell." I stood up. "Come on, Dad, we're getting out of here."

My father stood up beside me. "What she said, in spades," he told them all. "Come on, kiddo, let's go home."

I was almost at the door, when I heard the mocking voice. "Go on, run away. Like a little bitch."

I turned, fast. Velocity fast. Even as I did so, I put the light spot on to Miss Militia. She could already do paired weapons; I decided to try a variation. In my left hand, I held a taser. In my right, a heavy caliber pistol. The taser jerked as I fired it, the compressed-air cartridge propelling the prongs straight and true. They hit Shadow Stalker, nailed her through her clothing. Current flowed. She jolted, convulsed, slumped in her chair.

The huge revolver in my right hand was aimed dead-centre at her chest, the hammer all the way back. I could have fired. But I didn't.

Velocity was out of his chair and almost all the way over to me by the time I let the weapons dissolve; I held my hands up to show that they were empty.

_"Keep her away from me,"_ I gritted.

Turning, I stalked from the room.

* * *

><p><em>"She tried to fucking <strong>kill <strong>me!" shouted Shadow Stalker. She glared at Miss Militia. "With your fucking power!"_

_"No," Miss Militia replied. "She did not."_

_"I don't think so either," agreed Velocity. "She could have shot you, easily, before I got to her."_

_"Well, it was assault, anyway!" stormed the teenager. She rubbed the spot on her breastbone where the prongs had impacted; it was still very sore._

_**"Provoked** assault," Miss Militia corrected her. "We all heard what you said. I'm not saying she was justified in doing what she did, but I'm certainly not blaming her for doing it."_

_"So she just **walks**? After what she did to me?"_

_"I would be very careful, Shadow Stalker," cautioned Director Piggot, "about throwing out comments about someone getting away with their misdeeds."_

_Sophia fired her last shot. "What if I went and told Youth Guard about this shit? About how you're letting her get away with attacking a Ward? **Twice**, even?"_

_Piggot's voice was as grim as her expression. "I will be sitting down with them tomorrow, and going over how best to approach your case. You've already used up your welcome, Miss Hess. You're damaged goods. You have no grounds for appeal, not any more._

_"We're going to be lucky not to take a huge PR hit. I very nearly had to accept a Youth Guard watchdog into the building to oversee all of our Wards' operations, to ensure that nothing like this happens again. And if you keep up your whining, I will push for incarceration before your court date. **So don't push me.**"_

_Eyes wide behind her mask, Shadow Stalker subsided back into her chair._

_"Make no mistake," continued Piggot implacably. "You **will** be under heavy scrutiny from now on. You will **only** go on patrol when there is absolutely no other option, you will not be going on solo patrols, and the school will be directed to report any more misdemeanours directly to Deputy Director Renick. And if anything even vaguely suspicious happens to Taylor Hebert, at any time of night or day, we **will** be looking at you. Do you understand?"_

_Shadow Stalker sat silent._

_"I said, **do you understand?**"_

_Finally, the cloaked teen nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I got it," she acknowledged. "Can I go now?"_

_Piggot nodded sharply. "Get out of my sight."_

_Shadow Stalker went meekly enough, but there was rage building in her heart._

_**They can't do this to me.**_

_**This is all Hebert's fault.**_

_**She's going to fucking** _**pay.**

* * *

><p>As we drove away from the PRT building, Dad turned to me.<p>

"You all right, kiddo?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"So you've got powers. What are you going to do with them?"

I hunched down in my seat. "I have no idea. But I'm going to find out."

* * *

><p>End of Part 3<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part 4<p>

* * *

><p>I did some thinking on the way home. A solo career was right out; unpowered, I would not be able to depend on there being someone with powers nearby.<p>

So I would have to join a team of some sort, and soon; once word got out that a powerful Trump was in Brockton Bay, some would want to hire me and some would want to put me out of the way. Maybe permanently.

I could see why Director Piggot wanted me in the Wards; with my insights, I would not only be able to double-up on any powerset in the team, but I could help train new capes in the use of their powers.

But that wasn't going to happen; mainly it was about not wanting any sort of proximity to Sophia Hess, and partly about not wanting any part of the team that allowed her to get away with it for so long. But also partly because going into yet another rules-heavy environment loaded down with teen politics and drama was exactly what I _didn't _need at the moment.

"Kiddo?" Dad's voice broke into my reverie.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Any thoughts yet?"

I came to a decision. "Yeah, actually. Can we stop at a phone booth?"

I paged through the phone book, which was still surprisingly intact, until I found the number. Picking up the handpiece, I checked it for bubblegum or more noxious substances, then dialled.

_"Hello, Mark Dallon speaking."_

"Mr Dallon, hi. I'm calling about New Wave business."

His voice showed a little interest, but not much. _"Very well. You have my attention. What's the problem?"_

"Well, it's not really a _problem _as such. I, uh, I want to join New Wave."

That seemed to get his attention, all right.

_"You are aware, are you not, that New Wave is not in the habit of taking recruitment?"_

"Sure, I know that. But I figure that it's better to try and find out than to never try at all."

_"Hm. You're also aware that you will be required to reveal your identity to the public as part of your membership?"_

I was aware of this. I was also aware that this policy had led to the death of Fleur, and of Lightstar subsequently leaving the team, back in 2000 or so. Fleur's murderer had never been officially arrested, but some people had their doubts about whether the surviving members of New Wave would have bothered turning him over to the authorities. Certainly, no-one else from New Wave had been targeted since.

But that would be of little comfort to Fleur.

I looked out of the phone booth, at Dad. Could I risk his life? Did I dare take the chance that no-one would follow up my identity, decide to take out on Dad what they couldn't do to me? Heck, might they even hit me at home, take me out when I was unpowered?

The more I thought about it, the less I liked it.

_"Are you still there, miss?"_

I sighed. "Yes, I'm here. Sorry, I think I've been wasting your time. Thanks anyway."

_"Have you considered the Wards?"_

"I ... have my own reasons not to want to go into the Wards."

_"Oh well. Best of luck then. Have a nice day."_

"You too." I hung up, then looked at the phone.

_Wow,_ I thought. _He just didn't really care, did he?_

Dad was waiting outside the phone booth, having heard my side of the conversation.

"So, didn't go so well?"

I shook my head. "No. I kind of forgot about the whole public identity thing, and how it would impact you."

He ruffled my hair. "That's okay, kiddo. I'm sure we'll have better luck elsewhere."

* * *

><p><em>Mark Dallon put the phone down and leaned back on the couch. He felt vaguely as though he should have been more helpful to the girl, but he couldn't think how. <em>**_I should really take my medication,_**_ he told himself._

_But he didn't do that, either._

_Hours later, when Vicky and Amy got home, he was still watching TV._

_He had totally forgotten about the phone call._

* * *

><p>Dad took me home, and started putting together a cold lunch, while I sat on the couch and brooded. There were three superhero teams in Brockton Bay; I was too young for the Protectorate proper, I didn't <em>want<em> to go into the Wards, and joining New Wave would mean outing myself and putting Dad in danger.

And I wasn't about to go out there on my own, for obvious reasons.

Worse, if any of the criminal groups heard of me, I'd be vulnerable. The truth was, I was too powerful to be let alone, but not powerful enough to force people to let me alone. And even if the PRT opted not to force the issue, I could not be certain that Emma and her cronies, or even Sophia on her own, might not 'accidentally' let something slip. How could I know for certain that someone wouldn't come after Dad, or even me, when I was unpowered?

The answer was, I couldn't.

When I first got these powers, I had thought them to be a boon. Now, I saw them for what they really were; a white elephant. Far more trouble than they were really worth.

It was a conundrum and a puzzle; a two-edged sword.

_How do I get out of this mess?_

* * *

><p>Dad called me into the kitchen for lunch. We sat, and ate, and made desultory conversation. Dad carried the most of it, while I continued to try to work out a way out of the dilemma, only paying occasional attention to his words.<p>

" ... TV spot," he finished saying, and I realised that I'd missed everything else he had said.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked apologetically.

"Well," he repeated, "if we wanted to get damages out of the school for all the crap they let those girls put you through, I have a friend in the media, and she might be able to swing us a TV spot. Maybe something on Youtube. Raise public awareness."

"Unless we outed Sophia, our position would look pretty weak," I pointed out. "And _if_ we outed her, her family would be in danger, and we'd be in deep legal trouble."

"We could run it as a straightforward bullying case," he suggested. "Let Blackwell try to squirm her way out of that."

"Mr Barnes is a lawyer," I reminded him; from his grimace, he hadn't needed the reminder. "If we start saying things about Emma ..."

"He's a lawyer, but he's also my friend," Danny objected. "Surely he'd be able to see reason?"

I pointed at the phone. "You could call him, see what he says?"

He nodded; while I ate and thought, he got up to go to the phone. There was something that was nagging at me, something Dad had said. Something significant. A clue to a solution.

The phone call was short and to the point; Dad did not do much talking. When he put the receiver down, his face was pale; whether with anger or with something else, I wasn't sure.

"Not good?" I asked.

He shook his head. "That slimy, two-faced, double-dealing ..."

Anger. It was definitely anger.

"Lawyer?" I suggested.

"That sonofabitch!" he exploded. _"He_ threatened _me_ with court, with bankruptcy, if I ever tried to make a thing of it! I thought he was my _friend!"_

I nodded sadly. "Welcome to my world, Dad," I told him. "Welcome to my world."

Slowly he sat back down in his seat, looking slumped, defeated. "What do we do, kiddo?" he asked quietly. "He's got the game rigged; no matter what we do, we'll lose."

And that was the final clue that I needed. About ten seconds later, the pieces fitted together behind my eyes with an almost audible _click._

"Nothing, Dad," I replied, slowly. "We do nothing. Because there's nothing legal we _can_ do."

He looked at me oddly. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

I got up, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and headed into the front hall.

"Where are you going?" he called after me.

"Just to my room," I reassured him as I trotted up the stairs. "I've got to get online. I need to check something out."

_If I'm right, I may just have solved both my problems at once. If I'm wrong ..._

I didn't want to think about how badly it could go if I was wrong.

* * *

><p>End of Part 4<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part 5<p>

* * *

><p>Up in my room, I logged on to the Parahumans Online site. After idly browsing the wiki, I finally bit the bullet and went to the "Connections" part of the message boards, and created a new account, with a new username, using a throwaway email account.<p>

It took me a while to work out the exact wording of what I wanted to say.

It took even longer to build up the nerve to actually type the message in.

Even with the message typed in, my finger hovered over the Enter key for the longest time.

_Should I be doing this from the library?_

But I knew that if I got up from the computer without sending the message, I would never muster the nerve to do it again.

I hit the Enter key.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey, check this out."<em>

_L33t looked up from the latest invention he was wrestling with, and frowned. "Disturbing my concentration here, bro."_

_Uber shook his head. "No, you really gotta come see this."_

_L33t sighed and got up. He wandered over to where Uber was sitting at the computer._

"_PHO boards. So what?"_

"_Check it. A message for us."_

_L33t leaned in closer. Sure enough, there was a message titled "Uber and Leet"._

"_Noob," he snorted. "Doesn't even know how to spell my name."_

"_Check the message," Uber insisted._

_L33t did._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Subject:<em>**_ Uber and Leet_

_Player 3 has entered the game. PM for details._

_Hax_

* * *

><p><em>Below it was a string of comments, all along the lines of, "Oh great, another loser joins the team."<em>

_They looked at each other._

"_What the fuck?" wondered L33t._

"_Is he challenging us or what?" asked Uber._

"_Only one way to find out," L33t told him._

_Uber clicked on the username, and selected "send private message"._

"_What do I say?" he asked._

_The message, as they finally agreed on it, simply read, "Is this a challenge? If so, name your game."_

_L33t read it through a few times, then nodded. "Looks good, bro."_

_The message was sent._

* * *

><p>When I came downstairs again, Dad was standing there, watching me.<p>

"What?" I asked.

"What are you up to?" he asked me bluntly.

"I … what?"

"You made a cryptic comment about there being nothing legal we could do, then you went straight upstairs. What are you planning? Because if it's something illegal, I can't condone that."

I shook my head. "What am I going to do, Dad? My powers only work when other capes are around. And I _need_ some sort of protection, some sort of help."

"The Protectorate -" he began automatically.

I cut him off. "- will do exactly _nothing._ You saw them. Cover your ass mode, all the way. They're not even going to be pulling Sophia from the Wards, for PR reasons. I bet she even gets to go back to school, like nothing's happened! And if I say anything, do anything, _I'm_ the bad guy!"

He sighed. "I know, I know. Your mother would counsel turning the other cheek -"

" - but all that gets me is bruised cheeks, Dad! They won't stop! Sophia's got nothing to lose, now. They're already really good at giving each other alibis. And now I've got a way to do something about it -"

"_What_ are you going to do, Taylor?" he insisted. "Please tell me it's not illegal."

I looked him in the eye. "It's not any more illegal than what's already happened to me."

"That's not an answer."

I drew a deep breath. "Mr Barnes, who's been your friend as long as I've been alive, threatened to bankrupt you if you tried to have what Emma did exposed. _Legally._ The PRT is covering up what Sophia did, concealing a crime from the public. _Legally."_

I threw up my hands. "Is the law actually doing us any good, here? _I'm_ obeying the law. _You're_ obeying the law. And we're getting walked all over."

"Watching others bend the law is no excuse to break it yourself," he retorted, but there wasn't any conviction in it.

"It is if they're using the law to get an unfair advantage over us," I shot back. "You know what they're doing is _wrong."_

"I know, I know," he admitted. "But that doesn't make breaking the law the _right_ thing to do."

"So tell me what _is _the right thing!" I yelled. "Sit here and take it? Wait for some villain to break down the door because Sophia said something at school and it got around that I'm a powerful Trump? Let Mr Barnes get away with threatening you? Let Emma get a slap on the wrist from the court system, because she's pretty and I'm not?"

Dad shook his head slowly. "I … don't know, kiddo," he admitted at last. "I'm out of options. I don't know what to do."

"Then let me do what I'm going to do," I told him bluntly.

"What _are _you going to do?" he asked.

"Better you don't know."

"Just tell me that it's not illegal."

I looked him in the eye. "It's not illegal." It was a lie; I knew it, and he knew it. But he hadn't _asked_ me if it was illegal; he had ordered me to tell him that it wasn't. Which I had.

After another long moment, he nodded. "Okay, fine. Just tell me you aren't going to hurt anyone."

"No-one's going to get hurt if I can help it," I assured him.

We hugged; he rested his chin on top of my head.

"Just be careful, kiddo," he whispered.

I rested my head against his chest. "I will," I answered, just as quietly.

We stood there for a long time.

* * *

><p>End of Part 5<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Trump Card**

* * *

>Part 6<p><p>

* * *

>It was the next afternoon. I sat in Fugly Bob's, wearing an ugly sweatshirt I never normally dug out of the closet, the largest sunglasses I could find, and an old Brockton Bay Boomers baseball cap.<p><p>

After I finally got a message back from Uber and L33t (and yes, I had been corrected on the spelling) we had established that I wanted to join their team, and had thrashed out a meeting place. My last message had read, _Will be in Fugly Bob's, wearing Boomers cap. I'll know if it's not you._

I'd been sitting there for half an hour, wondering if I should get another basket of fries, when two new powersets impinged upon my consciousness. I say 'new' because I was already tracking two parahumans in Fugly Bob's. Fortunately, neither of them seemed to be there as part of a sting operation for yours truly.

The first was a mousy woman in her late twenties, accompanied by a teenage boy and an infant child. I didn't recognise her from what I'd read of the Parahumans Online wiki, but she had some serious power, based around flight and blasting. For a moment, I thought she might be Lady Photon, but she looked too young, and her hair was the wrong colour. Besides, there was the baby; I wasn't an avid cape-follower like some, but I was fairly certain that Photon Mom didn't have a third child.

Anyway, she wasn't there for me, and that was good enough for the moment.

The other one was a red-headed teenager with an older couple, who I presumed to be his parents. The man looked unwell, and his wife and son treated him with careful solicitude. The powerset I recognised at once; the teenager was Clockblocker, from the Wards.

Again, I was fairly certain that he wasn't there to trap me. But I felt kind of embarrassed, knowing who he was, while he didn't have a clue about me.

When the two new powersets showed up, I immediately shifted the light-spot to the nearest one. Immediately, I felt that I knew how to do virtually _everything_, and that what I didn't know how to do, I soon would.

That felt like Uber to me; I shifted the spot to his companion.

This was L33t all right; the light-spot started whispering to me the techniques to construct virtually anything I could imagine. But it was weird; whereas with most powersets, the 'voice' was calm and emotionless, if one could imagine a voice without sound or tone to possess emotions, the description of L33t's powerset seemed to be almost ... pleading? Almost as if it were saying, _I am here, all this potential. Please use me._

I couldn't figure that out, but it wasn't really my problem. Uber and L33t had showed up to the meeting. Now all they had to do was notice me.

* * *

><p>It actually took them a little while. They conferred, and split up. Uber checked the other half of the restaurant, while L33t came my way. I watched him from behind my sunglasses, while keeping track of Uber with the light-spot. In the meantime, just to see how Uber's powers worked, I learned how to do counter-surveillance and parkour. It was child's play. Everything was child's play.<p>

L33t walked straight past my booth twice, his eyes skating over me each time. I couldn't believe it. Did he need glasses? There I was, sitting there, bold as brass, looking directly at him, and he wasn't seeing me. It got so I began to wonder if Uber had some kind of Stranger power that I'd accidentally activated.

They came together again, not far from me, and conferred again.

* * *

><p><em>"Any luck?" asked L33t.<em>

_"No sign of him," Uber replied. "No-one wearing a Boomers cap at all. How about your side?"_

_"Haven't seen him either," grumbled L33t. "I think this is a bust. Maybe someone's watching us and the whole thing's a troll."_

_"Hey, wait a minute. There's someone wearing a Boomers cap over there."_

_L33t looked around. "Where? Oh, yeah. No, that's a girl."_

_Uber frowned. "Oh, okay." He paused. "But **still** ..,"_

_L33t shook his head. "A chick, calling herself Hax? A **dude** would call himself Hax. A gamer chick would be something like Princess Fairy Unicorn Sunflower or something."_

_"Wow, showing your prejudices much?" chuckled Uber. "I got pwned the other week in Space Opera by this chick calling herself Meteor Strike. Only way I knew it was a chick, we were on voice chat. She handed me my ass, bro. And that chick over there's wearing a Boomers cap."_

_L33t sighed. "Fine, go ask her. Serve you right if she pepper-sprays your ass."_

_"Fine. I will."_

* * *

><p>I watched Uber approach the booth. He was tall, muscular, graceful. More than one set of feminine eyes followed him over; I had to admit, I didn't mind the view either.<p>

Leaning into the booth, he cleared his throat. "Excuse me, miss?" he began.

His voice was firm, resonant, deep. The sort of voice suited to an action hero. I began to wonder why he hadn't made a fortune already in the acting industry; he would be able to set his own price.

I nodded. "Yes."

"I was just wondering if ... I was supposed to meet someone and ..."

"I said 'yes', you idiot," I hissed. "I'm Hax. Get L33t over here and sit down before people start staring."

He blinked. _"You're_ Hax? Really?"

To his credit, he turned and gestured L33t over before I even answered. They sat down opposite me in the booth.

"Really," I answered Uber's question. "I'm Hax."

"Wait, what?" blurted L33t. "You're him? I mean, he's you? I mean ..."

"Yes, she's me," I told him tartly. "I'm a girl. That last bit you're going to have to take on faith, because I'm not showing you any body parts to prove it."

It was becoming clear to me now. They had thought Hax was going to be a guy. Which was why L33t had looked past me several times.

"Okay, you're a girl," Uber agreed. "That's fine. You want to join the team? Let's see what you've got to offer."

I gave them a half-grin. "You know that old song that goes 'anything you can do, I can do better'?"

"What is this, some sort of feminist crap?" asked L33t, still obviously put out by the whole 'Hax is a girl' misunderstanding.

"Nope," I told him. "It's my power. I'm a Trump. I can copy your powers and use all the tricks you've ever figured out to use with them, and add my own variations on top."

"Copy, or steal?" asked Uber carefully.

"Copy only," I assured him. "You don't lose your powers, just because I'm borrowing them."

"So wait," interjected L33t, "you can copy all of our powers at once? That's bullshit."

I grinned and shook my head. "No, just one powerset at a time. Yours, his, or whoever else happens to be around at the time."

"So whose powers are you copying at the moment?" asked Uber curiously.

"Yours, actually," I told him.

He blinked. "I can't feel anything different."

"Believe me, I can. To quote an old movie I saw one time, I know kung fu."

"Well, that's definitely hax, right there," he allowed. "Just being able to pick and choose between whatever set of powers you wanted ..."

" … between the guy who can build anything, and the guy who can learn any skill, you mean?" I added.

"Hey," L33t wanted to know, "can you build stuff that I can't? Like, I've already built?"

I shrugged. "We'd have to see, wouldn't we?" Privately, I was fairly sure that I could. His powers had been _begging_ to be used.

They looked at each other. "So, bro, what do you say?" asked Uber.

L33t shrugged. "Can't hurt to give her a try-out. Even if she _is_ a girl," he couldn't help adding.

I raised an eyebrow at that, but made no comment. Girls apparently didn't factor very much into L33t's worldview. That was fine; he didn't factor very much into mine.

"Okay, then," Uber agreed. "You're in. Welcome to the team."

I grinned at them. "Player three has entered the game."

* * *

>End of Part 6<p><p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part 7<p>

* * *

><p>I didn't like Uber and L33t; nor did I understand why they did what they did. But I did understand two things; one, that a place on their team meant a sanctuary from which I could work without fear of forcible recruitment into one group or another, and two, that I could accomplish great things with L33t's power.<p>

Truly great things.

It told me so.

I could change the face of Brockton Bay.

I could change the _world._

All I needed were the tools to build the things I needed, and a place to build them.

* * *

><p>"Okay," began Uber, once we got back to their base. His voice was still resonant, impressive. Less impressive to me, now that I realised that he spoke in no other way. "There's a game plan we've been wanting to try out, but it needs three people, so we've had to shelve it until now. But with you here -"<p>

I cut him off. "Sorry, boys, gonna have to call a raincheck on that one. L33t, your power's been throwing ideas at me, and I really like some of them. But I'm going to need more components than I think you have on hand. So we're going to have to go out and get them." I dusted off my hands and beamed at them.

"Wait a minute," objected L33t, looking like a ten year old boy who's found that a pushy girl has invaded his clubhouse, and he doesn't know how to throw her out, "you're not the boss of us."

"No, I'm not," I agreed. "But if I'm a part of this, then we're a team. And a team works to help each other out. Right now, channelling your power, I'm a tinker sadly in need of equipment to build with. So you're going to help rectify that, right?"

I grinned winningly at him; the skills to manipulate males into doing what I wanted were coming along nicely. "Besides, do you want the team of Uber, L33t and Hax to keep being bottom-drawer, or to become a name that people fear and respect?"

L33t looked at Uber, and they both looked at me.

"Now, listen," objected Uber. "We do the video game theme. It's what we do. It's who we are."

"And how far has it really gotten you?" I argued. "Far be it from me to change a winning formula, but you have to admit, what you have right now hasn't really turned out to be a winning formula after all."

"But … _video games,"_ whined L33t. "We can't just … _not_ do them. People _expect_ us to do them. They watch our channel faithfully. Our fans are _depending_ on us."

I snorted. "Most of your so-called 'fans'," I told him acidly, "are watching to see how spectacularly you crash and burn on any given show."

The blunt words, forcefully delivered, hit L33t perhaps harder than my fist would have done.

"They don't," he almost whimpered, then turned to Uber. "They don't … _do_ they?"

Uber put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it supportively, but he addressed me.

"We don't _always_ crash and burn," he informed me steadily. "And L33t is right. We can't just drop the video game theme. It's integral to who we are; without it, we're just another couple of supervillains."

_**With** it, you're like just another couple of supervillains, only less successful,_ I thought. But I didn't say it; I needed them on side.

I shook my head. "I'm not saying that we have to drop it. Just that we might be wanting to pull a couple of less than public heists, where we don't actually have to use it. Sometimes it's better to be subtle than loud and flashy."

At this, L33t looked a little confused, but Uber's expression turned thoughtful.

"You're working on more than 'a few ideas' from L33t's powers," he charged me. "You've got a specific plan in mind."

I worked at keeping my expression bland. I was getting better at that, too; however, Uber was no doubt getting better at reading it.

"Maybe," I admitted, pretending reluctance.

Despite his misgivings, L33t was drawn in. "What plan?"

I grinned; or at least, I showed my teeth.

"By the time we're done, _no-one_ in Brockton Bay is gonna want to mess with us."

* * *

><p><em>If Shadow Stalker had known that the Hebert case would draw the attention of the Chief Director of the PRT, then perhaps she may have thought twice about her actions. But then again, perhaps not; Sophia Hess was an arrogant young woman who believed implicitly in the privilege granted her by her powers, and its utility in keeping her out of serious trouble.<em>

_In any case, she was unaware that when the report of the incident – specifically, the description of Taylor Hebert's powerset – went online, Dragon ensured that it came to Rebecca Costa-Brown's attention as soon as humanly possible._

_And so, when Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown initiated a video conference between herself and Director Emily Piggot, the former was understandably concerned._

_"Emily," she began brusquely. "Tell me about the Shadow Stalker incident. The one with the Trump."_

_"**It should all be in the report -**" began Director Piggot._

_"I have read the report," Costa-Brown cut her off harshly. "There is a great deal missing from it."_

_"**The entire incident was documented -**"_

_"Everything that was done and said, yes. But I fail to see exactly **why**you allowed such a valuable cape to literally walk out the door. Worse, you allowed her to gain such a negative view of the PRT and the Protectorate that she's likely to never trust us again."_

_"-** never trust us again.**"_

_Emily Piggot felt that she was squarely on the back foot. Chief Director Costa-Brown's acid tones, carrying clearly through the audio link, made that extremely obvious._

_"Uh, we tried our best -" she ventured weakly. It wasn't quite a lie, but it wasn't really the truth either. She knew that she could have done more, worked harder to gain the Hebert girl's trust. But she particularly disliked being put on the spot, and the girl's tantrum hadn't helped her case much._

"_Indeed." The pitch and spin that Costa-Brown gave the word made her wince._

_Piggot decided not to elaborate on exactly why she had let the girl storm out without making more than a token protest. Costa-Brown already knew about one lapse of judgement; she wasn't about to commit a second one, in order to alert her boss about a third. "It was basically Shadow Stalker," she explained, deciding to fall back to the truth. "The rules about not firing a Ward immediately -"_

"_**Did you think perhaps that you may have simply had Shadow Stalker arrested on the spot?"** snapped the Chief Director. "**She is definitely guilty of several crimes already, just from reading the report."**_

"_Uh … ma'am … PRT East North-east is already on relatively thin ice, as far as the locals are concerned," Director Piggot explained. "One bad PR situation may cause us to lose what control we have over the local cape situation. Besides, regulations -"_

"**Screw **_**regulations!**" snarled Costa-Brown. "**Because you missed the signals from a sociopath, then decided to soft-pedal her punishment, you missed out on recruiting someone who had the potential to be a second Eidolon, or a second Alexandria! Can you imagine what that might mean when it comes to the next Endbringer fight?"**_

_Piggot felt her world sinking away beneath her feet. Costa-Brown was correct, of course. She had handled the Shadow Stalker situation badly._

_The trouble was, she couldn't think of any other way she could have done it without having Youth Guard putting pressure on her to accept a watchdog into the Brockton Bay PRT building. And Emily Piggot had long ago sworn a private vow to never let that happen._

"_I will attempt to re-establish communication with the girl in question," she promised. "I'll tell her that Shadow Stalker's punishment is being fast-tracked."_

_Costa-Brown's voice was flat. **"And will it be?"**_

"_It will have to be," Piggot admitted. "Which will cause a whole new range of problems, all by itself. But as you say, a Trump with that level of capability is worth it."_

_Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown was silent for a moment._

"_**Do not make me regret this conversation."**_

_And then there was just a dial tone in Piggot's ear._

_She put the phone down, and booted up her computer. She had work to do, and not much time to do it in._

* * *

><p>End of Part Seven<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part Eight: The Debut of Hax<p>

* * *

><p>Über's fingers rattled on the keyboard of the small laptop, as he gazed intently at the screen. His lips moved as he murmured to himself, going through the steps we had planned. Entering one last command, he hit the Enter key with a flourish, and pulled the laptop cover closed. "Eight twenty eight and counting," he announced in his resonant voice. "The hack is good to go. Ready when you are, Hax."<p>

I opened my mouth to reply in the affirmative, then paused. _This is it. This is the point where I can't pretend any more that it's just a game, not any more. If I do this, I'm a supervillain. I'm a criminal. If I get caught, I go to jail._

"Hax?" L33t's voice was dubious. "Are you wimping out on us?"

"Give me a moment," I managed. "This is a big step."

"Huh," he sneered. "I knew it. You talk a good game, but -"

Über overrode him. "We're working on a limited time window here, Hax. Is this a go or a no go?"

I took a deep breath. I didn't _want_ to be a supervillain, but I hadn't really been given all that many choices to begin with. At least this way, this path, was _my_ choice, not someone else's.

"I'm in," I confirmed. "Let's do this."

"Woo hoo!" crowed L33t. "Let's kick this puppy!"

"Don't ever let Bitch hear you say that," advised Über dryly. He checked his watch. "Thirty seconds to go time. Phase one, mark."

I wanted to ask who 'Bitch' was - in my perusal of the PHO boards, I had never encountered that name - but there would be time later. "Mark," I echoed.

My first criminal act as a supervillain was under way.

* * *

><p>We had taken a couple of days to get ready; L33t whined a bit about this, but Über seemed to be okay with it. I suspected that he was observing me closely, in order to make sure I wasn't setting them up for a betrayal down the line. That didn't bother me; I was putting their powers to good use.<p>

From Über I picked up a range of skills suited to my purposes; running, jumping, basic martial arts, sneaking and hiding, and so on. I found that the skills lingered after I swapped my power focus to L33t, but tended to fade unless I made use of them semi-regularly. That was fine with me; I intended to use them just as often as I needed to.

L33t was sullen about the fact that I could apparently use his power to pursue avenues that he had already 'used up'. During my time in his workshop, I constructed two devices. One was a hand-held wireless taser - it had a limited range and not many shots, but it also had the advantage of being ninety percent off-the-shelf hardware; I'd had to tweak the capacitor that acted as an energy magazine to hold more power than normal, but the end result was a pistol that would fire maybe six debilitating shots before I had to recharge it. And it would fit into a holster in the small of my back.

Drawing, aiming and firing that pistol; _that _was one of the skillsets I practised assiduously.

* * *

><p>The other device had drawn scorn from L33t, and dubious glances from his partner.<p>

"A cape detector?" Über had asked. "Really?"

I nodded, still fitting the headband into place, then flipping down the goggle lenses. The cigarette pack sized module sat comfortably at the back of my head; it hummed slightly when I flipped the switch to power it up.

"Really," I told him. "It's only got about a twenty yard range - I had to sacrifice range for precision - but the right lens has a HUD that shows me rough distance and bearing, and the left will show a dot when I'm looking right at someone with powers." And, although it wasn't relevant, the lenses also optically corrected my short-sightedness.

"So does it tell you what the powers the person's got?" he asked.

I shook my head. "But that's what _my_ power's good for," I reminded him.

"But can't you already do that if you're up against a cape?" Über wanted to know.

"Only if I know he's there," I pointed out. "If I'm focused on someone and another cape is sneaking up behind me, or behind a wall, I really want to know about it. Might be a powerset I can use, right there."

"You realise," L33t jeered, "if you get caught wearing that thing while walking down the street, they'll go after you for trying to find out secret identities."

"But I won't be _using_ it for that," I protested. "Besides, my powers work just fine even without it."

Über cleared his throat meaningfully, looking from one of us to the other. "L33t, shouldn't you be making stuff too?' he suggested. "After all, we still need to get through security."

"She's hogging my workbench," complained L33t.

"Not at all," I contradicted, stepping away from the bench. "All yours. Thanks for the loan."

* * *

><p>Muttering under his breath, L33t had reclaimed his workspace, and set about constructing devices of his own. I shared a glance with Über; he shrugged expressively. He and I had pooled our talents - freshly acquired, on my part - to plan this heist, and I found that we synergised well. L33t, on the other hand, was still visibly resentful of my presence.<p>

I wasn't sure whether his antipathy was due to my inviting myself on to the team, or the fact that I could do everything he could as a Tinker and more. Or it just may have been that Über and I found ourselves on the same wavelength a lot of the time when I was sharing his power, and L33t felt left out.

In a way, I kind of knew how he felt - Emma had done the same thing to me, only more so - and so I tried to avoid excluding him from the conversations altogether. Unfortunately, even when given the benefit of the doubt, a resentful L33t wasn't a very pleasant person to try to get along with. There was only so much I could do before giving up.

* * *

><p><em>"I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Shadow Stalker," Vista confided as she stepped over the rooftops.<em>

_Aegis, overhead, nodded. "You're not far wrong," he agreed. "With her on permanent base duty, our patrol schedules are all messed up."_

"_I haven't even been out this way for too long," the youngest member of the Wards told him. "What are the waypoints?"_

"_Tonight, we'll hold for a few minutes at the North Side warehouse," he replied. "Use the pause to get a feel of the area, make sure nothing's going down."_

_She nodded. "Good idea."_

* * *

><p>The North Side Storage Facility was a huge, blocky building. For those not in the know, the name did not excite much in the way of interest. For those who <em>were<em> in the know – such as Über, L33t and myself – it was a clearing-house for nearly all the high-end electrical and electronic components that came into the city. During daylight hours, secure vehicles arrived and left on an hourly basis, bound for destinations all over Brockton Bay. Any Tinker worth his salt would give an arm, a leg and the vital organ of his choice, for the chance of browsing the shelves for half an hour with an unlimited charge account.

We intended to do much the same, only without resorting to the charge account.

Of course, this robbery would not be a simple case of strolling in, shorting out the alarm system and taking our pick of the merchandise. Literally millions of dollars' worth of equipment rolled through the place on a weekly – sometimes _daily_ – basis, and the security was beefed up to a commensurate level.

Tinker-made detectors supplemented the pressure plates, infrared detectors, body-heat sensors, CO2 detectors and so on. The walls and ceiling were coated with a thin polymer that was designed to pull away (and set off an alarm) if anything over one ounce in weight tried to crawl on it. There were sensors set to detect the sudden change in air pressure that teleporters may cause.

In short, the proprietors of the facility had done their best to reduce the utterly astronomical insurance premiums engendered by maintaining a stock of highly valuable merchandise in a city riddled with criminal capes.

I suspected that we were going to nudge those premiums up slightly.

* * *

><p><em>Aegis had a lot of time for Vista. The youngest of the Wards, she had more experience under her belt than Shadow Stalker, Kid Win and Clockblocker, and more or less equal time with Gallant. He appreciated her professional demeanour, and the way that she didn't let obstacles stand in her way – both figuratively and literally.<em>

_Which was why he felt bad every time he saw her face light up, every time that Dean entered the room. Dean had an ongoing thing with Glory Girl; Vista had to know that. But still, she all but followed him around the base. And when she had the chance to go out on patrol with him, she positively glowed._

_One day, not too long distant if he was any judge, she was going to come to the realisation that Dean simply was not interested in her. And the knowledge would break her heart._

_As the team second in command, he felt that it was his duty to try to tell her, let her down gently. But he had no idea how to bring it up._

* * *

><p>Phase one of the plan was gaining entry to the premises. Phase two was grabbing the gear we needed; some of what L33t wanted, but mainly stuff for me. Phase three, of course, was getting the heck out of Dodge. If the plan lasted that far.<p>

We were all wearing basic black coveralls and masks; L33t had (predictably) protested the lack of a video game theme. Über was also less than thrilled about the departure from their regular MO, but he had given it his provisional acceptance, so long as it didn't become an ongoing thing.

L33t had opposed the entire concept of robbing North Side; it was, he protested, a needless risk for too little gain. Über had responded by waving the catalogue under his nose, until he began to read through it. It wasn't long before his eyes started to glaze, and the protests dried up.

It had taken a while to figure out how to defeat the security system, but between us, Über and I had done it. The key was a thirty-second gap in the main security system coverage. Normally, this was not a problem, North Side had a complete _second_ security system, independent from the first one in every way, that was checked extensively before being activated. At eight thirty every morning, the primary system went down for a thirty-second self-check and diagnostic, comparing every line of code in the computerised control systems to a hardwired offsite backup. The secondary security system went online at seven thirty and was turned off at nine thirty, once it was established that the primary was well and truly secure once more.

We couldn't hack the security system itself; multiple redundant system checks would ring bells all over if we even tried. Nor could we hack the secondary system; it was offline, on a physically isolated system, until it was activated in the morning.

So we hacked the system clock.

* * *

><p>At eight twenty-nine and fifty-nine seconds, it would switch from PM to AM. At eight thirty, it would start counting seconds as minutes. At nine PM, it would switch back to PM, add twenty-nine minutes and thirty seconds to its elapsed time, and continue upon its merry way.<p>

But in that half-hour interval between eight thirty and nine PM, it would switch itself off; all locks would open, all cameras would cease recording, all sensors would be ignored. The secondary security system, which would normally have taken up these duties, was on a separate timer, and would not register the primary going offline.

Of course, the exterior doors and windows would still be active; they were on yet another system. So we had to get past those as well. Fortunately, we still had L33t's talents; as irritating and whiny as he was, he was still a Tinker of some note, and he had just the thing.

* * *

><p>As Über's watch ticked over to eight thirty, we climbed out of the car and advanced across the street. Each of us carried an empty duffel bag; I also had a backpack loaded with tools of all sorts. I didn't <em>think<em> I'd need to do any Tinkering while in there, but there was always the off chance. L33t, on the other hand, carried a rectangular framework, about the size of an ordinary door when unfolded.

"I still think we should have gone with a theme," grumbled L33t, even as he opened up the ungainly framework and pressed it against the side of the building, not far from a door.

"Themes are for when you're doing things in public, for your web show," I pointed out, as patiently as I could manage. "Think of this as preparation for your next show. Even award winning TV shows have dress rehearsals."

"I guess," he muttered, and pressed a button on the small module attached. There was a buzz and a hum and the area inside the frame shimmered slightly.

I glanced at Über. "Ladies first?"

He shook his head. "I'll make sure it's secure. Or rather, not secure."

Such was his faith in his partner's tech skills, he stepped forward boldly, not even testing the wall first. The faith was rewarded; the brickwork parted around him like water, and he disappeared into the wall. I nodded to L33t. "Nice."

He didn't smile, but his hunched posture straightened slightly. "Whatever," he muttered.

Ten seconds passed, and Über hadn't come barrelling out; nor had he called any of the distress phrases over the radios we all wore.

"Player one, status?" I called over the radio.

"_All clear, player three,"_ he replied immediately. _"Come on in, the water's fine."_

I stepped through the wall, followed closely by L33t. Blasting sirens totally failed to greet us. It was dark and quiet, lit only by emergency lighting.

We were in.

* * *

><p><em>Aegis called a halt on a rooftop near the looming bulk of the North Side Storage Facility. They waited several moments, watching and listening, before he finally decided to speak to her.<em>

"_Vista," he began. "I think we should talk."_

"_What about?" she asked._

_He decided to bite the bullet. "It's about you and Dean."_

_She seemed to freeze. " … what?" she asked faintly._

_He began to regret speaking up, but now that he had started, he had to see it through. "Listen, Missy. I just want to tell you, as a friend. Dean likes you as a person. But he's not -"_

"_I don't want to hear it," she interrupted him, turning away, and putting her hands on the parapet at the edge of the building. "What's between me and Dean isn't anyone's business. Not yours, not Sophia's, not anyone's."_

_He put a hand on her shoulder. "Missy -"_

"_Shut up," she told him._

"_No, you need to hear this -"_

"_No, you need to shut up," Vista snapped. "Look, over there."_

_He looked where she was pointing. In a patch of shadow between two overhead floodlights, three dark-clad figures were clustered next to the wall of the storage facility. And then one person stepped up to the solid wall … and through it._

_Aegis glanced at Vista. "You saw that, just then, didn't you?" he queried._

_She nodded. "Either someone's stealing Sophia's shtick," she ventured, "Or that was her just down there."_

_And then the other two also stepped into the wall and disappeared from view._

"_Uh." Missy paused. "I'll go for 'stealing her shtick'."_

"_That's the North Side Storage Facility," Aegis observed, even as he took to the air. "I think they'll be stealing more than that."_

"_Can we bust them?" asked Missy eagerly. "Pretty please?"_

_Aegis grinned. "Only because you said please."_

_He swooped down to where the trio had disappeared. She would not be far behind._

* * *

><p>End of Chapter Eight<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part Nine<p>

* * *

><p>We had travelled maybe a dozen steps, with Über that little bit in front of L33t and myself, when a red dot popped up on my right-hand goggle lens. It came in at the bottom of the lens, and travelled upward, fast. That meant …<p>

"Incoming!" I yelled, shoving L33t. "Run! Get out of sight! Now!"

L33t took a second or so to register what I'd said, but Über was already running. I snatched the opportunity to glance over my shoulder at where the goggles said the intruder was coming from; to my surprise, I was looking up at the wall, a good twenty feet above ground level. Then I got it.

_A flyer. Joy._

"Flying!" I added. I was already past L33t and pulling away from him. "For god's sake, don't just stand there!"

With a jolt, his brain seemed to kick into gear, and he started running, following me. Or rather, following Über, who I was following.

Two things happened about then; the first one was that the dot closed to within ten yards, which was my nominal range to detect and determine the powers of a cape. I immediately moved my focus from L33t to the new power source. I recognised it immediately.

"Aegis!" I yelled. "It's Aegis!"

And then the second thing happened. Another power source appeared, even closer, at ground level. Right next to the wall, it seemed. I flicked the focus to that one.

_Knowledge of distance and speed, ability to manipulate space, make things closer or farther away …_

"And Vista!" I concluded.

Using her power, I _crunched _space; not for me, but for L33t. Suddenly, he found himself at the far end of the row, past even where Über had gotten to. His startled yell drifted back to me, but I didn't care.

_Right, how do I do this?_

* * *

><p><em>Aegis landed on the pavement next to where the three dark-clad figures had vanished into the wall; seconds before he arrived, Vista twisted space, and got there ahead of him.<em>

"_Don't touch it," he warned her, as she leaned close to examine the door-like frame attached to the wall._

"_Wasn't going to," she replied absently. "Tinker work for sure. I'm guessing either a teleportal through the wall, or something that makes the wall permeable." She frowned. "Probably the latter, given that we're not looking directly into the building."_

_Aegis nodded, impressed. As young as she was, she had a head on her shoulders, and she'd run into enough cape situations that she knew what she was doing. He pulled out his phone and hit speed-dial for the Protectorate floating base. Whoever was on monitor duty there would pick up._

_Seconds later, he got an answer. **"Miss Militia here. What's up, Aegis?"**_

_Aegis had had a crush on the Protectorate hero when he first joined the Wards – and, truth be told, for a few years before that – but he'd since grown out of it. However, he had never lost the admiration and respect that he held for her._

"_Miss Militia, ma'am. We have an ongoing break and enter at the North Side Storage Facility. Vista and I are on site; we've located a Tinkertech item they used to gain entry. Some sort of gate device. We saw three enter, all dressed in dark gear with no visible costumes, nothing that would point to ID. No indication of powers, except for the Tinkertech item, of course." As he spoke, he pressed the button to put it on speaker, for Vista's benefit, then held up his phone so Miss Militia could see the device._

"_**Hm."** Miss Militia paused for a moment. **"I'm not reading an alarm from the premises. No-one's patrolling near you. Closest black and white is a good fifteen minutes away. Armsmaster's dealing with an Empire Eighty-Eight matter. Can you hold, ambush them on the way out? We'll get reinforcements to you, as soon as possible."**_

"_I could," he agreed. "And they might take more than fifteen minutes. Or they might take five. And when they come out, they're going to be carrying some very, very expensive stuff, you can bet on it. Which is guaranteed to be broken in any sort of ongoing fight."_

_Vista spoke up. "If we pulled this device off the wall, it will probably deprive them of an escape route." She paused. "Or no, better not."_

_Aegis glanced at her. "Not that I was going to advocate it, but what are your reasons?"_

"_If one of them's a Tinker," she pointed out, "they're in Tinker heaven right now. Given enough time, they could probably build a giant robot to smash down the wall."_

"_**All good points,"** Miss Militia agreed. **"What I want you to do is -"**_

* * *

><p>Drawing my taser pistol, I switched my focus to Aegis's power, and took up station directly above the section of wall where the heroes were going to come in. I didn't like the idea of ambushing them, or even attacking them at all, but the way I saw it, I didn't have much in the way of choice. In fact, the way I saw it, they'd taken away my choices when they let Sophia bully me, then didn't kick her out the minute they found out about her.<p>

I'd had to make my own way in the world, and if joining forces with Über and L33t wasn't the best choice in the world, there were many worse ones. And nearly all the ones that involved remaining on the side of law and order belonged in the latter category. Besides, I ...

I frowned. _They haven't come in yet. Why haven't they come in yet?_

The tactical skills that I had acquired via Über's borrowed power kicked in. They hadn't come in because they either feared an ambush, or they were working out a plan of attack. They were too close to the door to be worried about me attacking them, so they were probably coordinating with their control, calling in reinforcements.

If we spent the half-hour here that I had planned, even if Aegis and Vista never came in, the place would be _surrounded._

I couldn't wait for them to come in, to break the deadlock. I had to deal with them _now._

Between my goggles and my power, I had a reasonable idea of where they were standing in relation to the 'doorway'. Lowering myself to the level of the doorway, I poked the taser pistol through until I figured the business end was out the other side, then I fired.

* * *

><p><em>Vista saw the squarish object poke out from the door frame, and reacted immediately. "Watch out!" she yelled, giving Aegis a shove, and leaping backward herself. Instinctively, she squeezed space behind her, covering ten yards in a moment.<em>

_The crackling path of electricity intercepted Aegis; more specifically, it grounded in his phone. He was thrown backward, landing heavily, but was up in a moment. The phone was fried, dark, useless. His right arm hung uselessly, twitching, then started to move again, clumsily, as he retasked muscle fibres to pass nerve impulses along._

_The weapon, whatever it was, had disappeared, but neither Aegis nor Vista was taking any chances. They flattened themselves to the wall on either side of the entrance._

"_They know we're here." That was Vista._

"_Yeah." Aegis eyed the framework. "And if we hang about out here, they can pot-shot at us all night. That would have put you down." He eyed the phone, still clutched in his hand. "Dammit. I liked that phone."_

"_I've got mine -" Vista began, reaching to her belt._

_Aegis shook his head. "Don't bother." He pointed at the device, indicated his ears. **They could be listening.** "We're leaving. It's too dangerous. Let someone else deal with this." She stared at him oddly; he shook his head violently._

_Vista frowned slightly. "Triumph -"_

" _- isn't here. We are. I'm making the decision."_

_He completed the statement in simple sign language. **Me – go in – fly – cover you.**_

_She nodded, seriously, gave him a thumbs up. He took to the air, flew away a little way, then swooped directly at the portal, moving at speed. Vista saw him vanish into it, the bricks seemingly deforming to let him pass through unimpeded._

_**Thought so,** she told herself, preparing to enter as well._

* * *

><p><em>There was a split-second of disorientation, then Aegis was through the wall, swooping into the interior of the warehouse itself. There was a twenty foot high set of shelves ahead; he changed direction sharply, turning and gaining altitude, then looking back to see if he could spot the ambusher. It had only been a matter of seconds since they'd been shot at; he should be next to where the portal was, or close by.<em>

_There was no-one in sight, not near the portal, not in either direction along the aisle between the wall and the shelves. Whoever it was had gotten out of sight really, really fast. Aegis frowned in puzzlement._

_Vista came through next, looking around for potential danger. She also looked **up,** which impressed Aegis; so few people thought to look in that direction, even with flyers so commonplace._

"_Can't see anyone!" he called to her. "Keep your eyes open -"_

"_Look out!" she yelled, pointing._

_His path had just brought him up level with the top of the shelving; a dark figure lying there raised a stubby weapon of some sort -_

* * *

><p>As soon as I had fired, I resisted the impulse to step through and hit them again. Against numerically superior foes, it was smarter to hit and run, keep them off balance. So instead, I borrowed Vista's power and stepped up on top of the two-storey shelves. Lying down, I waited for them to enter. It was the only sound tactical option they had left.<p>

Aegis was a flyer; he would try to use the vertical space to his advantage. So all I had to do was wait for him to get up to my level. I cheated just a little; he was a bit outside the optimum range of my pistol, so I used Vista's power to reduce the range until it was about right. Then I fired.

This time it was a direct hit; the electrical arc caught him right in the chest. He convulsed and fell, either unconscious or stunned, I wasn't sure. Either way, he was out of the fight for the next few seconds. I wasn't worried about killing him; I had a really good read on his powerset, and a simple fall from twenty feet wouldn't even begin to be fatal. It might, however, serve to keep him down for a few more seconds, which was all to the good.

Which was a good thing, because I was going to need all my attention dealing with Vista.

* * *

><p>"<em>Aegis!" screamed Vista; she exerted her power to widen the space between her and the shelves, so that if he tried to shoot her, he would have a harder time of it. At the same time, she expanded the shelves themselves, vertically. Normally, she wouldn't be able to do this sort of thing; in such warehouses, bugs abounded, and she could not manipulate space when a living thing was in it. But this warehouse was kept to 'clean room' standards, due to the multiplicity of extremely delicate electronic components that were stored here, and so insects were at a minimum.<em>

_So she drove the shelving up toward the ceiling; the idea was to pin the attacker between one and the other. Not fatally, just to hold him long enough to make sure that Aegis was okay._

_Shelf met ceiling, and she held it there. **Good.** She hurried to Aegis' side, while pulling her phone out._

* * *

><p>I hadn't known what Vista was planning, but nor had I intended to stay on top of the shelves anyway. Flicking my focus from Vista to Aegis, I rolled off the far side of the shelves, even as they started moving upward at speed. As the power set engaged, I took flight and rocketed down the aisle.<p>

As I rounded the end, I landed and shed my backpack and duffel bag. Peering cautiously around the shelving, I could see her standing over Aegis, looking around. I didn't dare crunch space between us, as she would probably pick it up, so I concentrated on Aegis' powers. After a few moments of experimentation, I figured out how to boost his hearing, by turning the skin on my hand to an analogue of an eardrum. Pulling off my glove and putting my hand out past the shelving, I caught her words.

" - is down, a hit from an electrical discharge weapon. Not badly hurt, but he's going to be out of it for a little bit. One attacker, possibly flyer or teleporter. Have not seen the other two yet."

There was an answer, but I couldn't hear it clearly.

"Understood. I've got the attacker pinned – or at least, I _think_ I do – between the shelves and the ceiling. I'm not going to check – he's still got a ranged weapon. I'm going to get Aegis outside, to safety, then I'll guard the exit until he comes to."

_I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that._

* * *

><p>I added vision to my fingertips and waited till she glanced away from me, then I switched to her powerset and crunched space between me and her. Then I ducked around the end of the shelving and ran straight at her.<p>

When she turned back around, I was _right there_; I had let the space behind me relax to its normal shape, so for all she knew, I'd teleported into place. She went to jump back, to expand space between us, but it was too late; I had hold of her wrist.

She was fit, and she'd had training, but I was taller, stronger and – as skinny as I was – heavier. Also, I had longer arms, which meant more leverage. So I used the skills which I'd been learning with Über's power, locked her down, and then applied pressure to her carotid artery.

I had to admit, she was a fighter; she kicked and lunged and did everything in her power to throw me off balance or slam me into the wall. We _did_ actually hit the wall a few times, despite being about ten feet away from it. But I was using Aegis' powers, to keep us in the same place, and to weather any incidental impacts, and so I lasted longer than she did.

I checked her pulse – strong and regular – and laid her down in the recovery position. "Right," I murmured, pulling on my glove, then turned to check on Aegis.

Who was just then getting up.

_Oh shit._

* * *

><p>Even as he came off the ground and literally flew at me – <em>Christ, he's fast! -<em> I drew my taser pistol and shot him. Centre mass, direct hit.

Only it did absolutely nothing.

I realised why an instant later; he'd just _been_ shot by that same weapon. His body had adapted to get over the attack, and the adaptation was still in effect.

And then he hit me, and the pistol went flying. So did I. The only thing that kept me conscious was the fact that I had his powers, and so was just as durable as he was.

We squared off in midair; I decided to let him see that I could fly, because beating him would be extremely awkward, otherwise.

"She's okay," I hastened to say, straight up. I was careful to deepen my voice. "Just unconscious. Sleeper hold."

"Good," he growled. "I'll only use one on you, then."

I shook my head. "I can't let you do that."

He showed his teeth; they were very white against his darker skin. He looked rather handsome, I thought. "I'm not actually giving you the choice."

* * *

><p>We came together in what would have been a bone-crunching impact if, at the last moment, I had not changed it into a mid-air judo throw. Aegis came out of it pinwheeling, and slammed into the wall; <em>that<em> was the bone-crunching impact.

He recovered quickly, and came at me again, albeit a little more cautiously. His grin, undaunted, shone in the dimness. "Just full of tricks, aren't you?"

I grinned back, but my balaclava was in the way. "Just try me."

He kicked at me, which made a certain amount of sense; when you're flying, you don't need to keep your balance, and a leg is longer and has more leverage than an arm. But it's also clumsier, and once a kick is started, it's harder to stop. So I trapped his ankle, spun him around my head, and slammed him into the concrete floor.

He got up again; the impact would have severely injured an ordinary man, and I could see where bones were broken, but his grin was still there. All the same, I felt sick at what I was doing to him.

"Look, just stay down. We don't need to keep doing this."

He shook his head. "I can't do that."

I sighed. "I know. I had to try. I'm sorry."

This time, he was even more cautious; we circled around each other for a moment, before he tried for a grapple; if he could get a good grip on me, his superior strength would probably win out against my speed.

But I was much better trained than he was, and I had a handle on all the same tricks that he used with his powers, plus a few more.

I let him grab my arm, and start to apply a lock. This doesn't work so well in the air, because the opponent has another direction he can move. But he would have applied it anyway, if I hadn't used his power to let my shoulder dislocate, then spun around to a position that he did not expect. Then I kneed him in the groin, very hard indeed.

His eyes crossed, and he let out a strangled moan. While he was thus occupied – I don't care _how_ you can adapt your body, a strike to that particular point _has_ to hurt – I pulled my arm free, clicked it back into place, then struck hard and fast. All the nerve clusters, one after the other. Overwhelming his body, his nervous system, with an influx of pain.

He went down.

Well, I _had_ said sorry.

* * *

><p>While he was still adapting to that – and I had no doubt but that he would – I pulled all the zip-ties off of his belt, and tied him up with them, taking time to fasten him to the shelving. He would work his way out of multiple zip-ties, eventually, but not in the time frame I was worried about. And then I ran like hell.<p>

"Player one, player two, are you there?" I called over the radio link. "This is player three."

"_Player three, this is player one. What is your status?" _That was Über.

If I had been captured by the heroes, forced to talk on the radio, I had one of several duress codes I could use. Instead, I gave them the all-clear code. "Halo three. Repeat, Halo three. Time window is limited. Let's do our shopping and get out, over."

"_Player three, this is player two. Where are the heroes?"_

"Player two, the heroes have been neutralised. Now stop talking and start grabbing." I got back to where I had left my bags, and scooped them up. Then I headed to where the things I needed were being stored.

Unfortunately, some of them were being stored in a time-locked vault. This was not controlled by the main security system; its timer was separate and hard-wired. It would not, could not, be opened until nine the next morning.

Unless, of course, someone had a power like Vista's.

* * *

><p>Carefully, inch by inch, I reduced the size of the vault door, and increased the size of the doorway, until one no longer fit in the other. I could have done it faster, but I didn't want to jam anything, or cause tell-tale damage. Once the door was open, I went in there and stripped the shelves of what I needed. Then I had to put the door back the way it was.<p>

"Why are you doing that?" demanded L33t; he, too, had gotten what he wanted from the vault. "Let's go!"

"I don't want them figuring out how I did it," I murmured, concentrating. "Hax has gotta stay as hard to figure out as possible, for as long as possible."

We were pushing close to what I considered a safe time frame by the time I finished; I'd had Über grab what else I wanted from the shelves in the meantime. And then we headed for the way out.

My taser pistol was half under a shelf, I picked it up and shoved it back in the holster.

My goggles and my power both noted that there were no capes within my range, but that meant nothing. The place could be swarming with PRT and regular police.

_Only one way to find out._

* * *

><p>The tip of my index finger, poked out through the wall, told me a worrying story.<p>

"PRT and cops," I muttered. "Capes too, but hanging back."

"Fuck," whined L33t. "This is your fucking fault."

"Cool it," I told him. "We can get out of this yet."

"Yeah? How?"

I told him. They both stared at me in disbelief.

"You're _shitting_ us," declared Über.

In the end, they agreed to it, but we were cutting it way too fine. Aegis was awake, and straining at his bonds, and Vista was starting to stir as well.

* * *

><p><em>The PRT troops had just finished deploying and were ready to move in when the single dark-clad form streaked out through the portal frame. The figure – skinny, but clad in all-enveloping clothing – carried a single duffel bag over its shoulder. Before anyone could do more than shout and point, it was past them and gone. Velocity tried to give chase, but he lost the figure against the night sky almost immediately.<em>

_That left two perpetrators still in the building. The PRT moved in, to find Aegis and Vista; the latter was in the process of freeing the former. Master/Stranger protocols were employed, and the two Wards were determined to be who they said they were._

_But despite an almost microscopic search of the rest of the building, no trace of the other two thieves was ever found._

_One hour later, the portal frame ran out of power and ceased to work._

* * *

><p>The PRT were still milling around near the North Side storage facility when I landed a block away. I had to; my range was tenuous at best, and I was losing my link to Aegis. I unzipped the duffel bag, and first Über and then L33t climbed out. They brought their own duffels with them; I reached into the Vista-enlarged space and pulled my backpack out as well.<p>

"That was seriously weird," declared Über. "Can Vista do that all the time?"

I nodded. "It wears off after a while, though."

L33t seemed to be staring at me. I glanced at him. "What?"

He took a deep breath. "I still think you're way too pushy, but that was _awesome_. You took on two different Wards and kicked their asses, all by yourself." He hefted his duffel. "And with these components … the team of Über and L33t are gonna _rock."_

Über gestured to me. "Über and L33t and _Hax,_ bro."

After a long moment, L33t nodded. "Über and L33t and Hax. Yeah. You did good, kid. Welcome to the team."

Under my mask, I grinned. "It's good to be here."

I had passed my baptism of fire; they had accepted me.

Now, all I had to do was get home before the PRT decided to pay me a visit.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter Nine<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part Ten<p>

* * *

><p><em>Director Piggot lifted the phone. "Piggot."<em>

_**"Ma'am, this is Major Donnelly, Rapid Reaction Squad. We attended the location and found both Vista and Aegis on site. Both had been subdued and secured. Only one perpetrator escaped while we were there."**_

_"Escaped?" she snapped. "How?"_

_**"Uh, he was flying, ma'am," **the major reported. **"He was wearing dark clothes and a black balaclava; no identifying costume, goggles over his eyes. Velocity tried to follow, but lost him in the dark."**_

_Piggot gritted her teeth. "What do Aegis and Vista have to say for themselves? They were advised to hold position and ambush the perpetrators on the way out."_

_**"Yes, ma'am," **agreed the major, **"but they were attacked from within the building while waiting outside. They chose to enter and engage the perpetrators over allowing themselves to be made into targets."**_

_Piggot could not fault that logic. "How many perpetrators were involved in subduing them?"_

_**"Vista thinks there were two of them, but Aegis thinks that it was only one," **he replied. **"There was one that could fly, and had a ranged electrical weapon, and another that was some sort of Mover. They were both fairly strong, and trained in taking people down non-lethally. Vista was taken down with a sleeper hold, and Aegis was subdued using nerve strikes."**_

_The Director frowned. "I thought he was immune to that sort of thing."_

_**"According to him, these nerve strikes would have crippled or killed an ordinary person."**_

_"So the perpetrator was trying to kill him."_

_**"In my opinion, ma'am, he knew exactly how much punishment Aegis could take, and took him down as non-lethally as he could."**_

_"Thank you for your opinion, Major," replied Director Piggot dryly. "So how much property damage was done?"_

_**"Surprisingly little, ma'am. Vastly less than the potential cost of whatever was stolen."**_

_"Do we know what that was, yet?"_

_**"No, ma'am. The keyholders are still on their way here."**_

_"I see. Let me know as soon as they arrive, or if there are any other developments in the case."_

_**"Will do, ma'am."**_

_Emily Piggot hung up the phone, and sat back in her chair, thinking hard._

_**A cape without a costume ... knew exactly how hard to hit Aegis ... could fly and exhibit Mover capabilities, as well as enough strength to take down Aegis ... I wonder ...**_

_She picked up the phone again._

* * *

><p><em>The phone in Armsmaster's helmet rang. He dropped the last Empire Eighty-Eight thug and racked his halberd. His eye found the appropriate drop-down menu.<em>

_"You've reached Armsmaster."_

_**"This is the Director. I'm dispatching a detail of troops to a particular location; specifically, the house owned by Daniel Hebert. I'm sending you the address now. I want you to meet them there."**_

_"Certainly, Director. What am I looking for, once I'm there?"_

_**"His daughter."**_

_"I'm ... not sure I understand."_

_**"I'll explain once you're on the way."**_

* * *

><p>Über and L33t dropped me off a block away from my house; I did not want them knowing where I lived. I left the duffel and the backpack in the back seat; I trusted that they wouldn't backstab me this early in the game.<p>

And if they did, they'd no longer have the backup of Hax.

Once I was out of the car, I started running_. _Among the physical-conditioning skills I'd acquired using Über's power was long-distance running. I'd practised running every day; I was pretty good at it, even when I didn't have the power to fall back on.

I was halfway there, and just beginning to think I might make it, when the inevitable happened; I heard a deep-throated engine noise, and then a motorcycle swept out of a side street, and turned on to the road I was running down.

As it got within twenty yards of me, my goggles lit off with a red dot in the lower edge of the HUD; there was a cape behind me. I glanced around behind me to confirm it, which may have been a mistake, for a moment later, all the lights in creation started glaring off of that bike.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Go to the Hebert house. Surround it; detain Taylor Hebert if she tries to enter or leave. If you find her doing anything whatsoever suspicious, bring her in for questioning.<strong>_

_At first, Armsmaster had found those orders to be mildly dubious; how did Director Piggot even connect the North Side robbery to a freshly-triggered cape? But then, as the known details of the Hebert girl's powerset were uploaded to his helmet, he saw her logic. If the girl had acquired Tinker tech from somewhere, or even linked up with a criminal Tinker, then it would all fall into place._

_And there weren't all that many criminal Tinkers in Brockton Bay. He dismissed Squealer from the running almost immediately; her focus was totally different to the tech which had been exhibited during the robbery._

_Which left ... L33t?_

_Such was his disdain for the less-respected half of the team of Über and L33t, that he nearly dismissed him as well. Except that, despite his many failures - some of them hilariously spectacular - the man was still a Tinker, and he could conceivably have created the portal doorway, and the wireless taser that had been used on Aegis._

_Except, on the other hand, L33t's reputation was all about his devices failing dramatically, even explosively. And these devices ... had not._

_Armsmaster considered himself a methodical man, a logical one, both of which were true. He also believed that he had a deep sense of humour, which was not. He didn't even crack a smile at the ludicrous thought of Über and L33t planning and pulling off a heist like that, and getting clean away._

_The logical part of his mind, while it accepted Piggot's viewpoint on how it **could** have been someone with the Hebert girl's Trump capabilities allied with the less-than-stellar duo, objected on simpler grounds. Namely, that no theme had been adhered to, no video game had been referenced, and most importantly, the robbery had not been recorded and broadcast on Über and L33t's video blog._

_So, on the whole, Armsmaster was reasonably willing to expect that the whole thing was a wild-goose chase, a product of Director Piggot's dislike of capes in general, and capes not in the Protectorate in particular._

_Until he cruised around the corner, and caught the black-clad figure in his headlight beam, running down the middle of the road. The figure - he could not tell if it was male or female, just that it might be skinny - glanced over its shoulder. He caught a glimpse of a full-face black mask, with goggles._

_The perp or perps who took down Aegis and Vista had been wearing full black outfits, with goggles._

_With a flick of the thumb, he turned the headlight to high-beam; at the same time, he triggered the forward-mounted spotlights. He didn't want to lose Hebert - if it was indeed her - in the darkness._

_At the same time, he gunned the throttle._

* * *

><p>I heard the engine note increase, and I knew I was within seconds of being run down and captured by Armsmaster, within minutes of safety. The irony was sickening.<p>

Almost by instinct, as he came within ten yards, I put the light-spot on him; immediately, I began getting the data feed from his powers. It was all about building things more efficiently, more streamlined. I knew how machinery worked, on an almost visceral level, and how to make it work _better_.

A part of me wanted to stop, to give up, to let it all be over. The Protectorate was everywhere; I couldn't beat them.

Another part of me told the first part to stop snivelling, pull up its socks, to reach down and find a pair. Then I hunched my shoulders, turned a sharp right, and _sprinted._

I had been running in near-darkness for a few moments before Armsmaster had come out of the side street; apart from that one glance over my shoulder, my night vision was pretty good.

He wasn't ready for my turn and sudden acceleration; I wasn't up to Olympic standard, but I was light and fast, and I could pile on the pace for a short time. And a short time was all I needed.

He tried to cut the corner, but he'd already begun to accelerate, and from the sound of the engine and the heft of the bike, I was fairly sure I could calculate its turning radius. So I cut inside him, and heard the engine bellow past, just a couple of yards behind me. His brakes were already squealing, but I knew his stopping distance to a foot or so. Even as he threw himself from the bike, I was hurdling the first hedge, with track and field skills that I had not possessed a month ago.

He tried to follow, but by the time he got past the first hedge, I had already vaulted over the back fence and was halfway across the next yard.

I knew what his next move would be; to get back on his bike, and beat me to my house. Which he probably would. But I wasn't going to lie down and die, quite yet.

Calling on my brand-new parkour skills, I jumped from a swing-set to a fence, to the roof of a house. Sprinted up the gable-end, trying not to loosen the ceramic tiles from under my feet. Along the roof ridge. And nearly came to a screeching halt, because the house roof I 'd been going to jump to was just too far away.

But then I saw something else, and smiled. Instead of slowing down, I _accelerated. _Down the slope of the roof, gaining traction from the tiles. Leaped, as far as I could.

Landed, already crouched, not on the house roof, which I still would not have reached, but on the trampoline beside it. The springs creaked as the mat stretched downward; I could have sworn that one of my feet touched ground for an instant. And then they rebounded, flinging me upward and forward; I kicked off at the same instant, adding that to my final impetus.

I hit the grass in the next yard over, rolled, and came to my feet running. Vaulted the fence as though it wasn't even there. Sprinted around the side of the house. All I had to do was get out of this yard, cross the side-street, and I'd be in my own back yard, literally.

* * *

><p>And then I skidded to a halt. Shining across the driveway, which I had just been about to bolt down, was a particularly bright beam of light. Armsmaster was here already; he was sitting on the bike, ready to catch me if I darted out in front of him.<p>

Or was he?

My goggles said he wasn't; my power said the same thing. He was standing up at the corner, waiting for me to do something tricky, like try to dart past behind the bike.

_Crap._

I was just considering trying to ambush him with my taser pistol, in the hope that he hadn't proofed his armour against things like that, when I heard the truck coming. I knew for a fact that this was not a good thing.

_Or is it?_

* * *

><p>Time was running out for me; I whirled and ran, vaulted another fence – this parkour stuff was <em>cool – <em>and sprinted out past a house, diving and rolling to end up behind an ornamental bush, not twenty yards from Armsmaster. But right alongside the street that the truck was coming along.

I had to time this just right. I waited until the truck was almost level, till the beams of the headlights had passed me by. Then I came up from behind the bush like a sprinter from the starting block. The truck had nearly passed me by -

I leaped, and grabbed the ropes holding the tarp down. Swung my legs up, so I didn't get hit by the back wheel. Found purchase with the toes of my dark-coloured sandshoes. Hung on for dear life.

And then the truck rumbled to a stop, right next to Armsmaster. Fortunately, he was facing the other way, obviously still watching for any attempt from me to break across the side-street.

I couldn't overhear what was said, and I couldn't see their faces to lip-read, but it was probably something along the lines of "I'll watch this side, you form a perimeter." It's what I would have done.

The truck jerked into motion, nearly causing me to lose my grip, then moved on, across the top of the T-junction formed by the side-street. I literally passed within two yards of Armsmaster, who had fortunately turned to focus all his attention on the side-street.

Even as the truck was slowing to a halt outside my house, I kicked free, landed, rolled, and sprinted up the driveway alongside the house.

Behind me, I heard boots hitting the ground. "Hey!" someone yelled. "I saw something! In the yard!"

_Fuck._

"Flashlights!" someone else shouted. "Fan out! Surround the house! Cover the entrances!"

* * *

><p>I saw powerful flashlights come on, splashing on the ground as the men ran around the house. I crouched in the darkness in front of Dad's car, huddling half under the bumper, as they ran past me on either side, on their way to the back of the house.<p>

My goggles and my power showed me that Armsmaster was on the move, heading over toward the house, even as I heard a heavy banging on the front door.

_Oh shit. They're going to check my room. Where I'm not._

I had seconds, at most. Men would be coming back around to my side of the house. Establishing a perimeter. One that, without a nearby cape, I would have a great deal of trouble circumventing. An infinite amount of trouble, if I was found to not be in my room.

There were already men in the back yard; I couldn't go in through the back door.

I heard the front door open; Dad's voice raised in protest, others overriding him. Going into the house.

Moving as stealthily as I could, I climbed on top of the car. My window was open just a little; I liked the night breezes. In the near-dark, I studied the wall.

Before I had gotten my powers, I would have considered it an impassable obstacle. But since meeting Über ... not so much.

* * *

><p>Gathering myself, I jumped at the wall. My feet found purchase, just for an instant, as did my fingertips, and I flung myself upward. One hand slapped over the windowsill. I scrabbled, heard a shout from the back yard. "Hey, I think I heard something!"<p>

"Who's around that side?"

"I thought _you _were!"

_Shit shit shit fuck._

Flashlights were literally shining on the ground directly below me.

My free hand slithered inside, undid the latch, opened the window wide. With a convulsive heave, I launched myself up and through the window. On to my bed.

I reached out, pulled the window almost shut. A flashlight beam splashed through the window, lit up my ceiling, instants later.

"Hey, did something just move up there?"

"I dunno, did it?"

"Must have been a bat or something." The flashlight moved away.

_Whew._

* * *

><p>But there were voices coming up the stairs. My father, protesting. Other voices, demanding. They were literally seconds away.<p>

I tore off the balaclava and goggles, peeled off the gloves. Yanked back the covers. Dived into bed as the voices stopped outside my room. "Let me go!" called Dad's voice. "Taylor's my daughter -"

The gloves and goggles lay atop the covers. Hastily, I shoved them out of sight.

The black sweater I was wearing would give me away; I pulled it off over my head, threw it across the room at my laundry hamper, even as the door began to open. Lay back, covers partially pulled over me. Closed my eyes.

* * *

><p>The light came on as they crowded into my room. Three PRT men, each aiming a rifle at me. I blinked blearily, focused as well as I could – then pulled the covers up to my chin, and screamed.<p>

My voice isn't the loudest, but I'm told I can hit a fairly piercing volume. The PRT men reflexively stepped back a pace.

I took a deep breath, and screamed again. Then I called out. "DAD! DAD! HELP!"

From outside the door, I heard him call out. "I'm here, Taylor! Let me go, you bastards!"

Armsmaster pushed his way into the room. He waved his arm downward, and the guns were lowered.

Fumbling on the nightstand, I found my glasses and put them on. Then I took a second look around the room. "What - what's going on?" I demanded, my voice full of fright that didn't have to be wholly faked.

Armsmaster stepped forward. "Miss Hebert, a crime was committed tonight that could have been carried out with your particular powerset. I merely want to ask you a yes-or-no -"

"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

He rocked back a little at the force of my denial.

"Is that a no, you didn't do it, or -"

"No! I'm not going to answer any questions! Get out of my bedroom, you perverts! I'm in my _underwear_, here! Get out!"

The PRT men started to move backward, toward the door. Armsmaster stood his ground. "This is a serious matter -"

"And so is this!" I yelled. "I'm _fifteen!_ I'm a _minor!_ You shouldn't even be _in_ here! Do you even have a warrant to be in here?"

One of the PRT men stepped forward. "We're acting on reasonable suspicion -" he began, but I cut him off. _Dealing With Guys 101 – thanks, Über._

"Reasonable suspicion my ass! You had some sort of crime happen, and just because it _might possibly_ have been down to the _one new cape_ in the city who's got a _legitimate_ complaint against you, and you really want leverage over me, you decided to come in here all heavy-handed and see if you could catch me _not_ being here! Well, I _am_ here, so _fuck the hell off_ out of my fucking _bedroom!"_

I had to inhale deeply after that speech, but I kept the glare up. Armsmaster might have been glaring back at me; I couldn't tell. His mouth was not the mouth of a happy man.

"Dad!" I called out.

"Taylor?" he replied.

"Go call the cops! We have home invaders!"

One of the PRT men stepped forward. "We're the PRT -"

"No!" I shouted at him. "You're strange men in the bedroom of a minor, who's in fear of her life! You're home invaders! Get out!"

Armsmaster shook his head. "You're not in fear of your life."

I glared at him. "Those aren't candy canes they're waving at me, mister. Hyperbole. It's a thing. Now, do you have a warrant?"

He sighed. "Apparently not."

"Have you caught me performing an illegal act?"

His lips thinned. "No."

"Then – HEY!" I yelled at one of the PRT men, who was reaching for my wardrobe door. "No search warrant means you're breaking the law! Get out of there!"

Armsmaster turned to him. "You heard her. Out of the room. Now."

It said something for his air of authority that they trooped out. He turned back to me, hands empty. "No guns. Now, can you answer my questions?"

I shook my head stubbornly. "Have you booted Shadow Stalker yet?"

If his lips got any thinner, they would disappear altogether. "No."

"Then fuck off. I'm going back to sleep." I rolled over – incidentally, on to the goggles, which dug painfully into my ribs – and pulled the covers up to just below my eyes.

"Miss Hebert, have you allied yourself with Über and L33t?"

I ignored him.

"Miss Hebert, did you rob the North Side Storage Facility tonight?"

I put on a very obvious fake snore.

He sighed. "Miss Hebert. Understand this. I believe you did all of that. It's only a matter of time before I get proof. If you give yourself up before then -"

My arm snaked out from under the covers, and I gave him the finger.

He waited for a few more moments, then he turned and left the room. The light clicked off, then the door closed behind him.

I pulled my glasses off, eased the goggles over my eyes, and switched them on. The spot of light that indicated Armsmaster's location was moving away. Down the stairs. Across the living room. Out the door.

On cue, I heard the front door closing.

Armsmaster got on his bike, and then moved away, faster and faster, until he was out of the range of both my goggles and my power. I heard the truck start up, and follow him.

I let out a long breath that I hadn't even known I was holding.

* * *

><p>A few moments later, Dad tapped on the door to my room. I'd taken the time to divest myself of the rest of my infiltration gear, and to put on a bathrobe.<p>

"Come in," I called.

He switched on the light as he entered. I was sitting on the bed. I looked up at him.

"Taylor," he began, worriedly. "I -"

I stood up and hugged him; he hugged me back.

When we disengaged, he stepped back, putting his hands on my shoulders, and looked me in the face. "What _was_ that about, Taylor?"

I shook my head. "Better you don't know, Dad."

He frowned. "Are you doing something illegal? Because I -"

I took a deep breath. "I'm doing what I gotta do."

He didn't seem to know what to say about that. "I … in the morning, I'm gonna call in every favour I have. We'll splash this across the media. PRT harassment ..."

I held up my hand. "No, Dad."

He pressed his lips together. "Why?"

"Because people will wonder, and they'll come to the right conclusion. This, so soon after the Winslow thing? I want people to _forget_. I don't want to be known as a cape."

He shook his head. "But they just violated a whole lot of your civil rights -"

I held up my hand; he stopped. "No. It's called 'hot pursuit'. They're allowed to ignore private property and other laws, if they can lay hands on the person after continuous pursuit."

He blinked. "And … were they pursuing you?"

I sighed. "If I don't tell you, you don't know, and you're not an accessory. But suppose that someone was hypothetically coming to this house, and Armsmaster hypothetically saw them, and gave chase, and that person hypothetically resembled someone who was in a robbery earlier tonight, who was hypothetically believed to be someone not entirely unlike me."

He stared at me, not saying a word.

"In that case, yes," I told him. "If they had come in here and there had been clear evidence that the person they were chasing was indeed me, then they would have been within their rights to arrest me. But there wasn't, so they couldn't."

"Taylor," he began quietly. "I … I don't know about all that. But … if you were a supervillain, I just need you to understand … I'm not going to ask difficult questions … but I wouldn't accept stolen money, either."

I had to laugh, as I hugged him. "Oh, Dad," I told him truthfully. "I'm not stealing _money."_

* * *

><p>End of Part Ten<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>PHO Interlude<p>

* * *

><p><em>[The tool for this was created by Conceptualist.]<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Welcome to the Parahumans Online Message Boards<strong>

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* * *

><p><strong>Topic: New Villain Team in Town?<strong>

**In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► Cape Doings ► Villains**

* * *

><p><strong>Lurker<strong> (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Posted on January 8, 2011:

So yeah, my sources tell me that there's a new bunch of criminal capes in town. Three of them, an Alexandria package, a Tinker and maybe a teleporter. Knocked over the North Side Storage Facility last night. Gave a couple of Wards a bit of a beatdown. Got clean away, even after the PRT were on site.

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><p><strong>(Showing Page 1 of 3)<strong>

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Whoa, this is the first I've heard of that. A new team? When did that happen? And a new Alexandria package?

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Well, like I said, last night. We know at least one of them was an Alexandria package, because they took on Aegis and beat the snot out of him.

**GloryGirl** (Verified Cape) (Cape Daughter) (New Wave)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Okay, just saying? Wasn't me.

But I did hear something about that. Who was the other Ward on site?

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

My sources say Vista. Don't worry, she's fine. Our mystery cape(s) just put a sleeper hold on her till she passed out.

**ArcticWolf** (Veteran Member) (Power Guru)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Okay, so that's the Alexandria package. But how do they know a Tinker and a Mover/teleporter were involved?

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Tinker because they used a Tinker tech device to get in, and apparently one of them ambushed Aegis with some sort of electrical discharge weapon, and teleporter because only one of them was seen leaving the scene - the A-package.

**ArcticWolf** (Veteran Member) (Power Guru)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Could the other one have been a Stranger with invisibility or something? While the Alexandria package was drawing everyone's attention, just walk out?

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Actually, that's a good point. Okay, so member three could be a Mover or a Stranger.

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Okay, so any other details? Costume appearance? Code names?

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Not really costumes, as far as I know. Dark clothing, head to toe. Balaclavas with goggles. One of them might have spoken with Aegis, but he's not talking about it.

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><p><strong>End of Page. 1, <span>2<span>, 3**

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><p><strong>(Showing Page 2 of 3)<strong>

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

So, basically, ninjas.

**GloryGirl** (Verified Cape) (Cape Daughter) (New Wave)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

snerk Ninjas. Really?

**Hodor**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Hey, why not? We've already got a dragon in Brockton Bay.

**ArcticWolf** (Veteran Member) (Power Guru)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Hmm ... well, I can't recall offhand that combo in any other trios in the region. And a team that's that professional should be well established by now.

Looks like we've got a new team of talented amateurs, folks.

**ICanHazKitty** (Cape Groupie)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

So, come on, group name. We need one. Otherwise, we'll be talking about "those three capes with the Alexandria package, the Tinker and the Mover/Stranger".

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

I vote "Ninja Squad".

**GloryGirl** (Verified Cape) (Cape Daughter) (New Wave)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

facepalm

**Hodor**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

How about "Black Masks" until they give a name to the news?

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

You do realise that 'black mask' used to be a term for any criminal cape, right?

**Hodor**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

So? It fits.

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><p><strong>End of Page. <strong>**1****, 2, 3**

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><p><strong>(Showing Page 3 of 3)<strong>

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

And it's better than "Ninja Squad".

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Hey, what's wrong with Ninja Squad?

**ArcticWolf** (Veteran Member) (Power Guru)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

We're not calling them Ninja Squad.

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

So, not to change the subject, but have they released information about how much the Black Masks got away with?

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Ninja Squad.

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Not a specific figure, but the number is large. We're talking maybe seven digits here. The Black Masks apparently got into a secure vault, inside the premises, without tripping an alarm or even using the combination. Some really specialised components. So yeah, their Tinker is in hog heaven right now.

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Ninja Squad!

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

So to figure out who the Black Masks really are, or who they're working for, all we have to do is sit back and wait for the next big Tinker tech device to be unleashed on Brockton Bay.

Joy.

I might go visit my aunt. In Fort Lauderdale.

**Hodor**

Replied on January 8, 2011:

I, for one, welcome our new Tinker overlords.

**Lurker** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 8, 2011:

Hahahahaha.

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><p><strong>End of Page. <strong>**1****, ****2****, 3**

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><p>Alexandria sat back from the computer, and put her face in her hands.<p>

* * *

><p>End of Interlude<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part 11: Alternate Points of View<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Director Piggot<strong>

* * *

><p>"You went into the house," Piggot stated, her voice flat and hard. "Why did you do that?"<p>

Armsmaster would have stiffened to attention, if he had not already been in that posture.

"My report covers -" he began, but she cut him off.

"I have your report right here," she snapped, slapping a hand down on her desk. "I want to hear it from you. Personally. And kindly _do not_ leave out the part where armed troopers threatened a teenage girl with automatic firearms."

He drew a deep breath. "I was proceeding toward the house that you had indicated to me, belonging to Daniel Hebert. Less than a block away from the house, I encountered a person, also proceeding toward the house. This person was dressed in a manner similar to that described by Vista and Aegis, down to the goggles. This person's physical type fitted the description of Taylor Hebert."

He paused for a moment, and Piggot jumped in. "Did you see or hear _anything_ that would help to specifically pin this person's identity on the Hebert girl? Hair, for instance? Voice? Eyes? Skin colour?"

Reluctantly, he shook his head. "The person was the right height and could have been the right build, given that the clothes were a little loose. Apart from that ... no. No hair was showing, no skin was showing."

The Director's lips thinned slightly, and she nodded curtly. "Go on."

"The person knew I was there; he or she glanced back at me. I turned on all my lights, and prepared to effect a capture."

"But then the person evaded you." It wasn't a question.

He nodded. "Yes." The admission appeared to pain him. "He or she went in between the houses."

"Did you attempt to pursue on foot?" She knew the answer to that one, but asked him anyway.

"No. By the time I was off the bike, the person was out of sight. I saw him, or her, hurdle a three-foot hedge with ease. Does Taylor Hebert have a background in athletics?"

She shook her head. "All the information we have indicates a more sedentary lifestyle."

"Well, _this_ person is adept at track and field," he stated. "Athletic and acrobatic."

"But you have a theory to cover that." Again, it wasn't a question.

He nodded. "If she's allied herself with Über and L33t -"

Piggot snorted; she could not help herself. _"That _pair of losers!"

"Who may just have pulled off a major heist last night, and got away clean, with _millions _of dollars worth of gear," he reminded her. "I'm just saying that _if_ she's allied herself with them, she could easily have picked up any skills she needs, by tapping Über's power."

To her credit, Piggot became very thoughtful. "And if she's giving them direction and helping them pull off jobs like that one last night, that makes me very concerned indeed." She shook her head. "But we worry about that later. Continue."

"I lost track of the person," continued Armsmaster, "but I set up on the street separating that block from the Hebert house. If it was Taylor Hebert, and she crossed the street, I would know about it."

"But she crossed it anyway," Piggot stated implacably.

He nodded. "The only thing I can think of is if she hitched a ride on the truck. When the men got out, they saw someone running into the yard. They went looking, but found no-one. A few of them got turned around, and the west side of the house was uncovered for a few moments. They heard a noise from that side, but when they went to investigate, they found nothing."

"But it could have been Taylor Hebert getting into the house."

He nodded again. "Her bedroom window opens on to that side. It's sixteen feet up the side of the house - but the driveway's on that side, and Hebert parks his car there. Almost directly under the window."

"Sixteen feet," mused Piggot, "but with a car to stand on, that's closer to eleven or twelve feet. The Hebert girl is a bit less than six feet tall, so she'd have seven feet of reach. So we're looking at a four or five foot gap. If she jumped, got purchase -"

"Athletic _and_ acrobatic," he reminded her.

"She could make it," she concluded.

He nodded. "That's what I figured. Once we saw the person in the yard, I figured we were in the end zone anyway. The guy in charge of the troops, what's his name -"

"Michaels," she supplied.

"Michaels, right. We concurred that we had a case for hot pursuit. So they demanded entry, Hebert opened the door, the PRT guys went in, found the right bedroom -"

"And there she was, lying in bed, as innocent as a newborn lamb," she interrupted scathingly. "Screaming her bloody head off."

He gritted his teeth. "If we'd been ten seconds earlier ..."

"But you _weren't_," she snapped. "We're just lucky that no-one has footage of this. That the PHO boards haven't snapped up _this_ little fiasco and sent it nationwide. That Hebert has apparently decided that his daughter's privacy as a cape is more important than suing the PRT and Protectorate for _millions_. Because let me tell you something -"

"Actually, no," remarked a new voice. "Let _me_ tell _you_ something."

Both Armsmaster and Piggot turned toward the window. It was open, and a caped figure was just stepping through.

Director Piggot's mouth fell open, and then she closed it again.

"... oh," was all she managed.

Alexandria's smile was wintry. "'Oh' indeed, Emily," she murmured, closing the window behind her. "Now, let me tell you how it's going to be."

* * *

><p>There was a long silence in the room, then Piggot spoke up. "Is ... the Chief Director ...?"<p>

Alexandria shook her head. "Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown is a busy woman," she declared. "For today, you can assume that whatever I say is what the Chief Director wants."

Piggot nodded slowly. "So, what do you know of the case?"

Alexandria's lips thinned. "I _know _that after you were told to back off with Taylor Hebert and make amends, you apparently decided instead to take your first opportunity to send PRT troops into her _house_, avoiding a massive PR catastrophe only by sheer, unbridled _fluke._ I _know _that you still have not managed to expedite Shadow Stalker's removal from the Wards, despite your assurances to the contrary. And I _suspect_ that, due to these factors, exacerbated by perhaps the greatest failure of diplomacy in Brockton Bay since Lord's Port became the Boat Graveyard, Taylor Hebert has decided to embark upon a highly successful life of crime. As opposed to, say, joining the _Wards_."

Her delivery was flat, but it was underscored by a tone so cutting that it almost drew blood. Piggot felt physically ill; she had been dreading the fallout, and it was shaping up to be even worse than she had imagined. "Uh, I intend to be taking steps -"

Alexandria's hard gaze locked on to her from behind the steel helmet; she stumbled to a halt. "No, _I _will be 'taking steps'. _You _will do nothing except carry out those orders which I will pass on to you. Orders directly from the Chief Director. Do you understand?"

Emily Piggot nodded silently.

Alexandria smiled again; there was no humour in it. "Good. You've done a fine job as Director here over the last ten years; I'd hate for you to throw it all away now. Fortunately for you, the Hebert fiasco has not made waves. So you'll keep your position, but with the strict understanding that you are on notice. Any of your actions, from here on in, are subject to audit, and you to summary dismissal, if it's decided that you screwed up to this magnitude again, without seeking advice up the line. Is that understood?"

Numbly, Piggot nodded again.

"Good," Alexandria told her. "Armsmaster. You are removed from leadership of the local Protectorate team, effective immediately. Miss Militia will take your place. You will undergo assessment, retraining and whatever else is deemed necessary until you are considered fit to hold a leadership position in the field once more."

She didn't ask him if he understood; the question, and the answer, would have been superfluous.

"Now," she went on. "Your orders regarding Taylor Hebert are quite simple. _Hands. Off._ Full stop. No ifs, buts or maybes. Director Piggot, I understand that you've been attempting to recruit her into the Wards?"

Piggot cleared her throat. "I, uh, I've been trying to contact her, to open a dialogue. But she doesn't _respond._ There's no _negotiation. _She asks me, is Shadow Stalker gone, and ... "

"And you say no, so she hangs up," completed Alexandria. "Got it. Well, perhaps you should have moved faster on that."

Her tone was mild, but Piggot winced anyway. "I've been _trying. _But every time I try to move things along, she threatens to contact Youth Guard, and _I do not want them in my building."_

Alexandria nodded slowly. "Well, I can't fault you on that, at least. Well, your orders are clear. You don't contact Taylor Hebert or her father, you don't consider her to be a suspect in any crimes, no matter how compelling the circumstantial evidence. You go only off eyewitness accounts, and evidence gathered at the scene. Capture her in costume, well done. Anything less blatant than that, kid gloves. Are we understood?"

Her gaze took in Armsmaster and Piggot both; after a moment, they nodded.

"Good." She smiled brightly. "Now, I'm going to speak to the recalcitrant Shadow Stalker. She is in the building, yes?"

Piggot nodded. "In the Wards base, yes. Monitor duty."

"Ugh." Alexandria grimaced, but her tone was almost whimsical. "Monitor duty. Almost as bad as juvey. Oh, well." She moved toward the door, then stopped. "Where could I get a pair of those electrical cuffs that you use to restrain her?"

"Uh, I have a pair," Armsmaster told her. He detached them from his belt, handed them to her. "We've assessed that she's not a flight risk -"

"Faced with the imminent possibility of juvenile detention, that might change," she informed him gravely. She looked at Piggot. "And one last thing before I go. You were hell-bent on catching her red-handed, forcing her into the Wards, just as you did with Shadow Stalker. But you see how that's turned out with her. Now I want you to imagine the potential consequences of a resentful teenager, who by all accounts can use the powers of those she taps into _better_ than the owners of said powers, forced into a situation where she's surrounded by a multitude of destructive powers. Working for people against whom she holds a quite understandable grudge. Think, if you will, on exactly _how_ many ways that could turn out badly."

With that, she stepped out the door, and closed it behind her.

Piggot and Armsmaster looked at each other for a long moment, then the armoured hero slowly subsided into a chair. Piggot did not object.

"Fuck," he muttered.

She did not disagree.

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Stalker<strong>

* * *

><p>The buzzer sounded, and the monitor screens flashed yellow, indicating a visitor. Sophia picked up her mask from the desk and fitted it over her face, but she did not turn to see who the newcomer was. She had to do monitor duty; she didn't have to be polite.<p>

"Shadow Stalker."

The voice was right behind her; it was unfamiliar. And Missy and Chris had stopped their inane conversation, over in the eating area. She turned and looked. And then looked up.

Looking down at her, lips set in a hard line, was perhaps the last person that Sophia wanted to see.

"Uh, Alexandria," she managed, jumping to her feet. "If you're looking for Triumph, he's off duty, but Aegis -"

" - is not the person I want to talk to." Alexandria's voice was hard, even harsh. "You are."

Sophia drew in a breath. "If this is about those bullshit charges they've got me on -"

"Shut up," snapped Alexandria; Sophia shut up. "We will speak about this, on the roof. Now."

"I, uh -" began Sophia. Alexandria glared at her. To the best of Sophia's knowledge, the Triumvirate hero didn't have any Master powers, or death-ray vision for that matter, but Sophia wouldn't have been able to prove either assertion at that moment. "... uh, right. On the roof."

"Wrists," Alexandria ordered. "You'll be wearing these." She reached behind her and produced a pair of the specialised cuffs that Armsmaster had made up.

"Oh, no, wait, that's bullshit," Sophia protested. "I haven't tried to run even _once._ You don't need those."

"Director Piggot thinks you do," Alexandria told her coldly. "Armsmaster thinks you do. And, more importantly, _I _think you do. After you hear what I have to say, you may just become a flight risk. So give me your wrists. Now."

Sophia shook her head. "I'm not going to -"

Alexandria's voice was low and soft. "That. Is. An. Order."

Sophia felt a chill go down her back. Disobeying a direct order from a member of the Triumvirate, in front of witnesses …

_This could bury me. Youth Guard or no Youth Guard._

She put out her wrists, and felt the cuffs click into place. Immediately, they commenced humming ominously.

Alexandria placed one hand lightly on her shoulder. "Come on, Shadow Stalker," she stated. "Let's go."

Sophia did not want to go to the roof for a talk with Alexandria. "Uh, I'm on monitor duty," she hedged. "Not supposed to leave the screens unattended."

Alexandria nodded. "Understood. Vista!"

Across the room, Vista stood up. "Yes, ma'am?" she asked.

"You're on monitor duty until Shadow Stalker gets back."

Vista nodded. "Yes, ma'am." She started toward the computer console.

Alexandria smiled slightly. "Thank you. Shall we go?"

Guided by the light touch – which she knew at any minute could cease being light – Sophia went with Alexandria toward the door.

* * *

><p>They emerged from the lift doors into the roof complex. Alexandria guided Sophia out on to the roof proper; the two guards on duty stiffened to attention, and saluted.<p>

Alexandria returned the salutes, then nodded to them. "At ease, boys. Take five, if you don't mind."

"Ma'am?" asked one of the guards.

Alexandria stepped a little closer, and lowered her voice. "I need to have a private conversation with Shadow Stalker about her immediate future. Just her and me. I'll watch the roof while you're gone. Understood?"

The guard nodded at once. "Understood, ma'am. Taking five, as ordered."

Sophia watched them heading toward the lift, then turned back toward Alexandria.

"Okay, you got me up here," she began defiantly. "So give me your talk, and we can -"

The hand that closed around her throat shut her up very quickly indeed. She tried to pull it off of her, but she may as well have been trying to bend a steel bar in her bare hands. Looking into Alexandria's eyes, she found nothing resembling mercy.

"You represent a problem to me," Alexandria mused, even as she walked Sophia over to the edge of the roof. Sophia found that she could breathe, barely, but speech was impossible. "I usually remove problems, as quickly and efficiently as possible. So I have decided that, tonight, you will cease being a problem to me. One way or the other."

Sophia felt her face suffusing with blood; she was finding it harder to breathe. She made a vague choking noise, waving weakly toward her throat.

The grip let up on her throat, and she drew a shuddering breath into her lungs. Alexandria's expression had not changed in the slightest. "What … what are the choices?" rasped Sophia.

"Option one," Alexandria told her, "is that you go down to Director Piggot's office and confess to every single crime you have ever committed. Including all the assaults against Taylor Hebert. Leave nothing out. Then ask politely to be removed from the Wards program, and to be placed into juvenile detention."

"Fuck that!" snapped Sophia, her natural rebelliousness and arrogance pushing aside the fear she had felt a moment ago. "I'm not going to dig my own fucking grave!"

Alexandria nodded, unsurprised. Her hand closed on the front of Sophia's costume, and lifted; Sophia felt her feet leave the ground. Turning, Alexandria held her out over the drop, supported only by the grip on her costume. With a twist of the wrist, Alexandria tightened her collar, cutting off her blood circulation. Blackness began to well up around her vision.

"Option two," Alexandria went on, "is that I drop you, now. It will be a tragic case of a misguided escape attempt. I tried to catch you, but you'd fallen too far, and the deceleration snapped your neck." Her expression still had not altered in the slightest.

She let Sophia hang there for a long moment, during which the Ward felt her consciousness slipping away, before moving her back on to the rooftop. When she let go, Sophia fell to her knees, holding her throat and gagging. Alexandria just stood, looking down at her dispassionately.

* * *

><p>Once she had gotten her breath back, Sophia looked up at Alexandria. "You're fucking nuts. There's no way you're going to kill me if I refuse to confess. I'm a Ward, and you're in the Protectorate. It's stupid. It's insane. It's - it's against the fucking <em>law!"<em>

Alexandria's chuckle was as dry as autumn leaves. "Says the girl who broke the law so very many times, for her own amusement." Her voice became harsh once more. "Listen to me, very carefully, and you may yet live out the night."

Sophia was starting to get the idea that she had perhaps miscalculated the depth of trouble in which she had landed. She stared up at Alexandria, eyes wide behind her mask. "I'm listening," she admitted at last.

"Good," Alexandria murmured, crouching so as to get down to Sophia's level. Then her hand lanced out, seized the front of Sophia's costume once more, and they were airborne. Straight up they went, at a speed that took Sophia's breath away. When they stopped, Brockton Bay was far, far below them. A chill wind made Sophia's cloak flap and brought goosepimples to her skin; Alexandria did not seem to notice it.

"Now that I have your attention," the elder hero announced. "We come to the matter of Taylor Hebert. I would have her in the Wards, or at least, favourably inclined toward us. You are a stumbling block in that matter, which is why you are being removed. Tonight."

Sophia frowned; it didn't make sense. "Fucking _Hebert?_ Is _that_ what this is about? Why do you want _her?"_

Alexandria sighed. "She can _copy powers._ Any powers. She's _good_ at it."

Sophia shrugged. "And so?"

"Two of myself, or two of Eidolon, at an Endbringer fight," Alexandria filled her in. "Two of Panacea, anywhere. In fact, if she joined the Wards, she could have _whatever powerset she needed,_ of the ones available in the area, to do what she needed." She brought Sophia's face close to hers. "She is worth ten, a hundred, a _thousand _of you. Currently, she doesn't like the Protectorate. That is largely your fault. I'm willing to do quite a lot to redress that balance. Your death? Won't be even a footnote."

Sophia wanted to look down, but she didn't want to know how high up she was. She was beginning to shake; she told herself it was from the cold. "W-what do you want from me?"

Alexandria plucked off Sophia's mask, stared her in the eyes. "I want your _solemn assurance _that you will confess every single crime, every murder, every last assault on Taylor Hebert. That you will ask to be removed from the Wards and sent to juvey. That you will _not_ appeal your sentence. That you will _never_ speak of this conversation to anyone, ever. And you will, of course, never speak of Taylor Hebert's secret."

Sophia blinked, tried to think. There had to be a way out -

"There is no way out." Alexandria's voice was calm, implacable. "You have two choices. You must choose one, and mean it, or I _will_ choose the other." She paused. "And just so you know? I have spent _decades_ learning how to read people. I'm very good at it. If I detect the slightest deceit, the slightest hint that you're holding something back, I will assume that you intend to not be honest with your choice."

She twisted Sophia's collar once more, just lightly. "And if you should happen to tell a wild tale someday to someone about this night … well, I have ears in many, many places. And I _will_ find you. And you _will_ die."

Sophia desperately wanted to cry, to beg, to plead for her life. But she refused to. She would die first. But she also wanted to live. _While I live, I'm a survivor._

Her stomach convulsed, and a few drops of urine escaped from her bladder. She did her best to control her expression. "I choose to live," she whispered.

Alexandria tilted her head. "What was that?" she asked quietly.

Sophia took a deep breath, felt the tears of pure terror freezing on her cheeks. "I choose to live," she repeated. "Please, let me confess. I'll tell them everything. Just let me live."

A nod. _"Good_ choice."

They dropped, so rapidly that Sophia's bladder escaped her control a second time. She thrust down the humiliation, forced it from her thoughts. _I have to live. I have to live._

When they landed on the roof, Alexandria let her go. Immediately, Sophia fell to her knees and threw up; everything that she had eaten in the last twelve hours ended up decorating the rooftop. Alexandria waited patiently, then helped her up. She offered her a wipe for her mouth, before handing her mask back.

Fitting it back into place, Sophia moved toward the lift, her knees still a little wobbly. Alexandria offered her arm for support; Sophia leaned on it, but refused to feel grateful.

The lift opened and the guards emerged, just as they got to it. "Sorry, but there's a bit of a mess on the roof, over there," Alexandria told them. "You might want to get someone up here, to clean it up."

* * *

><p>Director Piggot looked up when Sophia and Alexandria entered her office. She stared from one to the other. "Can I help you?" she asked, a little uncertainly.<p>

Drawing a deep breath, Sophia stepped forward. "I want to make a confession," she stated clearly. "I want to confess all the crimes I committed as an independent, and as a Ward."

Piggot blinked, then held up a hand. Rummaging in a desk drawer, she pulled out a large digital recorder. Switching it on, she recorded her name, then played it back, to her satisfaction. Starting the recorder again, she stated, "This is Director Emily Piggot, of PRT East-North-East. Speaking to me is Shadow Stalker, also known as Sophia Hess." She gave the date and time, then looked at Sophia. "Now, if you can start from the beginning?"

"May I have a seat?" asked Sophia. "This could take some time."

Alexandria pulled a seat over for her; Sophia sat. She began. "I killed three men that I know of while I was an independent … "

Alexandria left while she was still speaking. She didn't notice.

* * *

><p><strong>Alexandria<strong>

* * *

><p>She rang the phone number she had been given while she was still three miles out. The phone was answered by a male voice.<p>

"_Hebert household. Danny Hebert speaking."_

"Mr Hebert," she replied. "I'm pleased to have caught you. Is Taylor at home, please?"

"_Who is this?" _he answered, suspiciously.

"This is Alexandria," she told him bluntly. "I would like to speak to Taylor about your situation regarding the PRT and the Protectorate."

"_Alexandria? You mean, **the** Alexandria?" _His voice sounded less than convinced; she didn't exactly blame him.

"The one and only, Mr Hebert," she assured him. "I'll be landing in your back yard in thirty seconds. Would you mind letting me in?"

She dropped straight in from two thousand feet, a whistling plummet that startled a few night birds on the way past. She held her cape down as she dropped, a practised move that ensured that it would not fly up and potentially entangle her head.

* * *

><p>Alighting gently in the back yard, she looked the house over; it was smaller than she had expected, but it was reasonably well-kept. Striding up to the back porch, she mounted the steps and was about to knock when the door was opened. Standing there, face to face with her, was a teenage girl.<p>

She had seen the photos, and recognised her immediately. "Hello, Taylor," she greeted her, holding out her hand. "I'm -"

"- Alexandria, I know," Taylor replied, taking her hand and shaking it. She applied firm pressure, firm enough that Rebecca actually felt it. Behind her mask, her eyes opened just a little. _So that's what it's like to meet someone of equal strength._

"Odd, I know," Taylor commented, as she led the way into the living room. "I get that look a lot."

Rebecca blinked, as she assimilated the fact that Taylor had just read her, even with the mask on, as easily as she read other people.

_I'm used to being the smart one in the room, of being three steps ahead of everyone else. She's already assimilating my powers._

* * *

><p>In the living room, an older man, skinny and balding, wearing glasses and a slightly stunned look, stood and offered his hand. "Danny Hebert. Very pleased to meet you, ma'am. Juice? Coffee? Tea?"<p>

She was much more careful with his hand than with Taylor's. "Juice would be fine, thank you," she replied with a polite smile.

He left on his errand, and she turned back to Taylor. "You're probably wondering -"

"After last night's screwup, you finally lost patience with Director Piggot and came to sort matters out for yourself," Taylor told her bluntly. "You've told them to leave me alone, done something to get Shadow Stalker out of the Wards, and come here to apologise in person."

Rebecca's jaw only failed to drop because of her iron control over her musculature. _I think she's **smarter** than I am._

Taylor shook her head. "No, it's only simple deduction. You'd only be here if you thought you had a chance to get me into the Wards, and Shadow Stalker is the big problem there. Likewise, you don't want anything leaking about PRT soldiers pointing assault rifles at teenage girls, so you've told Director Piggot to back off. Because you and I know damn well that even if I was committing crimes, I'm not about to let them even come close to catching me again. If they try, it'll only turn out badly for them."

The certainty in her tone rang true to Rebecca's ear. _Could she be running a bluff on me?_

She didn't think so, but after speaking to Taylor for just a few moments, she was beginning to have her doubts. Taylor was undoubtedly very bright, and with Rebecca's powers added on top …

"I don't think I can bluff you," Taylor assured her. "And it's not hard to read you. We're very much on the same wavelength."

They were, Rebecca realised. When Danny came back into the room, they both turned and smiled at him, each took a cup, and each sipped at exactly the same moment.

"What I would not do to have you beside me, fighting Behemoth … " murmured Rebecca.

Danny looked from one to the other. "That was creepy," he declared. "Are you reading each others' minds?"

"Not quite," Rebecca stated, then realised that Taylor had said the exact same words, at exactly the same time. Danny blinked and shook his head.

Rebecca chuckled. _I could **not** cow this girl the same way I cowed Shadow Stalker. _"I am _so_ not used to being on the back foot like this. I came over for another reason as well."

Taylor took a sip from her cup. "To ask me if I want to join the Wards?" she hazarded; a grin lurking at the corner of her mouth showed that she was reasonably confident of the answer.

"Actually, no," Rebecca replied, feeling a slight satisfaction that Taylor couldn't anticipate _all_ of her moves. "Just to tell you this much. If you're interested in joining the Wards, we would be happy for you to join them. If you aren't, then we can't make you, and to try would be to court disaster. But whatever else you are doing, with whomever else, I'm not going to bother you and I'm not going to tell you to stop."

She paused for emphasis. "Just make sure that if you're doing something not necessarily legal, with people who haven't been all too successful to date, try to make sure that they don't go over the top with their newfound success. We'd like to have the option to ask you to join us at some point, if we need a large menace put down. And it would be much easier to do that if you haven't hurt a lot of people in the meantime."

Taylor nodded. "That's fair," she agreed. "And you're right. I'm not interested in joining the Wards at the moment. But if you need my help, I'll step up. In fact, I'm working on something at the moment."

Behind her mask, Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What might that be?"

Taylor grinned, fairly radiating glee. "What, and ruin the surprise?"

_Teenagers._ Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. I'm sure I'll find out about it when the time comes."

Serious again, Taylor nodded. "You can count on it."

"Good. Well, that was all I needed to talk to you about, so -"

"Ah, could you do me a favour and wait a few minutes?" asked Taylor. "There's something I want to figure out, and it's much easier with your Thinker rating."

Bemused, Rebecca nodded. "I suppose." She finished the juice while watching Taylor concentrating, obviously thinking hard about something.

Then Taylor nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate that." She shook Rebecca's hand. "It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Rebecca noted. "Also, very interesting." She shook Danny's hand as well, on the way out. "Good night."

They stood at the back door, watching, as she walked down the back steps, then vaulted skyward. A lone dog barked, far below.

Back up at ten thousand feet, she shook her head slowly. _I think I got involved just in time. I would **not** want her mad at me._

* * *

><p><strong>Coil<strong>

* * *

><p>Thomas Calvert read over the report that had just been submitted to him.<p>

_Interesting,_ he thought. _Very interesting, indeed._

_I think that I might need to meet this Taylor Hebert. Get to know her a little._

_With a little incentive, she may be able to keep my **other** Thinker in line._

* * *

><p>End of Part Eleven<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>PHO Interlude 2<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Welcome to the Parahumans Online Message Boards<strong>

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* * *

><p><strong>Topic: Shadow Stalker hurt?<strong>

**In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► Cape Doings ► Wards**

* * *

><p><strong>CapeFollower<strong> (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)

Posted on January 10, 2011:

Is it just me, or has our favourite urban-vigilante-turned-Ward not been around these last few days? Normally, she's very active, especially over the weekend, but recently ... nada.

* * *

><p><strong>(Showing Page 1 of 1)<strong>

**Kilimanjaro**

Replied on January 10, 2011:

Huh. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her around either. Usually you see her doing solo patrols, or out and about with another Ward or Protectorate member.

**FreddieK** (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 10, 2011:

Maybe she's just taking time off?

**XxVoid_CowboyxX** (Temp-banned) (Muted)

Replied on January 10, 2011:

DELETED BY MODERATOR

**TinMother** (Moderator) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 10, 2011:

Posting information that can lead to the discovery of the identity of a cape is prohibited. Have a ban and a mute while you think about that.

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 10, 2011:

Wow, okay.

So something's obviously happened.

I'd heard that her career before she joined the Wards was not entirely free of potential problems. Maybe something from back then came back to bite her?

**BrickFrog**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

maybe one of her old enemies caught up with her?

**FreddieK** (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Wasn't she chasing the Undersiders for a bit there?

**Kilimanjaro**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

The who?

**EraserHead** (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

No, that's an Earth Aleph band.

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Guys, it's obvious that something's happening that we don't know about, and throwing up speculation might step on the wrong toes, so how about just posting facts.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Page. 1<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>(Showing Page 2 of 2)<strong>

**Jumper**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Could it have something to do with the sightings of Alexandria we had on Saturday night? Flying to and from the PRT building?

**BrickFrog**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Wait, Alexandria was _here_? In _Brockton Bay_?

Now it all makes sense.

Oh wait, no it doesn't.

More info pls?

**MinionNumber21** (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

I can say this much. Alexandria was at the PRT building on that night. She went up to the roof and had a chat with Shadow Stalker. What they chatted about, is not something I am prepared to speculate about. But the _rumor_ is that Shadow Stalker is considering retiring from the Wards.

**BrickFrog**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Ooooh, mysterious rooftop chats!

Maybe the big A heard she was thinking of quitting and dropped by to talk her out of it?

**Kilimanjaro**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Maybe she dropped by to make sure Shadow Stalker handed back her secret Wards decoder ring.

**Lancer** (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Or maybe she was there on other business altogether, and just happened to want to have a quiet word with Shadow Stalker for some other reason. She's _Alexandria_. Whatever she's doing, she has a good reason for it.

**MissMilitia** (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

After much consideration, Shadow Stalker has decided that she will be retiring from the Wards for civilian life. We support her in her decision, and hope that she will be happy there.

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

... well, damn.

Shadow Stalker leaving the Wards? That'll leave them a bit short handed, won't it?

**BrickFrog**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

maybe she kicked someone's ass a little too hard, and she's being eased out before the shit hits the fan.

**DeadManWalking**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Maybe she's being Mastered, and it's not her doing it at all.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Page. <strong>**1****, 2**

* * *

><p><strong>(Showing Page 3 of 3)<strong>

**Lancer** (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Or maybe she's actually just retiring.

You know? Like people do sometimes.

Could be she's decided to go back to being an independent.

**Kilimanjaro**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Bagrat raises an excellent point. Who are they gonna bring in to replace her?

**DeadManWalking**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Who said they had to bring anyone in to replace her?

**FreddieK** (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

You live in Brockton Bay, and you have to ask that?

**Tapdancer**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Maybe New York or Boston will lend us one of theirs.

**BrickFrog**

Replied on January 11, 2011:

That should be fun.

**Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on January 11, 2011:

Well, we're just going to have to wait and see.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Page. <strong>**1****, ****2****, 3**

* * *

><p>Taylor shut the computer down and pushed her chair back. <em>Thank you, Alexandria.<em>

* * *

><p>End of Interlude<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part Twelve: The Perfect Alibi<p>

* * *

><p>I woke up on Monday morning with the urge to skip school strong in my mind. Part of it was due to the fact that I really, truly, desperately wanted to get to Über and L33t's base so that I could finish building the projects I had running. The other part was that, even without Sophia there, Emma and Madison were still quite able to make my life a misery, if they should put their minds to it.<p>

I thought it over while I was out on my morning jog; having picked up athletic skills from Über, it only made sense to maintain them, and I was pleasantly surprised by how far and fast I could run now. Friday night had been a real eye-opener for me; parkour was no longer a thing that people did on Youtube. It was something that had saved my bacon, personally.

When it came down to it, what did I really have to fear from Emma and Madison? They couldn't shut me in the locker again. They couldn't out me as a cape without facing PRT retribution. I didn't think they would get physical with me, not without Sophia there to initiate it and back them up. And whatever verbal abuse they threw at me, I could take.

And if they really wanted to go that step farther, to escalate, to take my stuff and destroy it again, I could deal. I could escalate harder than they _ever_ could.

_I'm not scared of them any more._

_Holy shit, I'm not **scared** of them._

The realisation lightened my steps and gave me a burst of energy; before I quite knew it, I was on the home stretch. I sprinted down the street, crossed the road, and hurdled the fence without slowing down.

* * *

><p>Dad looked up as I entered the back door, panting and sweating, but grinning widely.<p>

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted me. "You're looking happy."

"Just some stuff I've figured out," I told him.

He nodded. "That's good, then. Breakfast'll be ready in a moment."

I inhaled the cooking smells, and suddenly felt ravenous; my stomach growled sharply. "Smells great, Dad," I told him, quite honestly. Leaning up, I kissed him on the cheek. "'Scuse, gotta take a shower. All sweaty."

I was still in high spirits as I trotted up the stairs; it was looking to be a _good _day.

* * *

><p>I don't often sing in the shower, but I did that morning. As I dried myself, I made a mental note to use Über's power to acquire the ability to actually sing well. The thought made me chuckle; I was still grinning about it when I came downstairs, doubled back through the front hall, and joined Dad in the kitchen.<p>

"So, what was it that you worked out on your run?" he asked me as we sat down for our meal.

I slid my fork under some egg. "Oh, that I don't need to worry about Emma and Madison any more. Sophia's gone for good, and without her, they're a lot less likely to bother me."

He frowned. "I can't guarantee that they'll leave you totally alone," he pointed out. "If it was all her, then Emma and Madison wouldn't have taken to it so thoroughly. So watch your back, and if anything happens, please consider telling a teacher."

I shook my head. "Popular kids win out over unpopular ones. We both know that, Dad. I'll just keep my head down. It'll be okay."

He frowned. "If I know Alan Barnes, he'll have prepped Emma to watch for you using cape powers, so she can report you."

"Good luck to her, then," I responded with a grin. "I don't _get_ powers unless there's another cape nearby."

He nodded understandingly. "So, do you think you'll have much trouble catching up after your week off?"

"I shouldn't think so," I assured him. "But I'm gonna insist on being assigned another locker. I don't care how much they scrub that one out, I'm not going near it again."

"Good," he told me. "If they give you any trouble, tell them to call me."

I gave him a smile. "Thanks, Dad," I told him. "I appreciate that." I glanced at the wall clock. "Whoops, gotta run."

"Me too," he agreed. "Give me a hand to clear the table?"

I grinned. "Sure thing."

Moving quickly, we got the table cleared and the plates into the sink to soak, then I dashed out of the house. I leaped from the top step of the front porch, landing three or four yards down the front path. The turn on to the pavement slowed me a little, then I gained speed once more, once I had a straight run.

* * *

><p>Running, even with my pack full of books, was easier now; I couldn't keep up the pace that I maintained on my morning run, but it was definitely faster than I could have managed before. I covered the two blocks to the bus stop in good time; good enough that I had a few minutes to sit and catch my breath before the bus arrived.<p>

I had fully intended to do as I had told Dad, to keep my head down once I got to school. No need to make myself a target, after all. All I had to do was get through the day; after today, everything would be different.

But when I walked in through the front doors of Winslow, I found myself striding along, head high. I was no longer unsure, uncertain, a victim. I had taken on _Aegis_ and won. I was not the same person who had gone into the locker. I was something _more_.

I noted in passing that my locker didn't have a smell coming from it; they had obviously exerted themselves to ensure that the incident was forgotten as soon as possible. But, as I had told Dad, I turned my steps toward the principal's office.

There was no way in _hell _I would use that locker, ever again.

* * *

><p><em>Carrie Blackwell looked up at the sharp rapping on her office door. She frowned a little; surely it was too early in the day for students to be getting sent to her for punishment?<em>

"_Come in," she called._

_The door opened, and a tall, lanky figure stepped through. It took her a moment to recognise the girl, so complete was the change in posture. No longer shuffling along with her head down, she looked Carrie in the eye as she fronted up to the desk. Alert, aware, even challenging._

"_Can I help you, Miss Hebert?" Blackwell enquired sharply._

_The girl nodded curtly. "Yes, you can, ma'am," she replied. Her tone was a little sharp, a little hard, to be actually polite, although the words were all there. "I'd like to have another locker assigned to me, please."_

_Blackwell blinked, a little taken aback. "A new **locker**?" she repeated. "Your old one is perfectly serviceable. It has been cleaned and disinfected -"_

_The girl was shaking her head. "No, ma'am. That locker will never be serviceable to me, ever again. I would like a new one. Now."_

_Blackwell shook her head in turn. "I can't just issue a new locker on demand -"_

_The Hebert girl leaned forward over her desk, resting her weight on her knuckles. "Sure you can," she replied evenly. "Or I can request that you call my father over the matter. He has a friend who works in TV. How fast do you think this would make the news, and how bad would it make the school look?" She paused. "Alternatively, you can just give me a new locker. Please."_

_Carrie Blackwell saw the resolve, the determination, in Taylor Hebert's eyes. There was no give in the girl now, no backing down. She **would** carry out the threat. And there was no way Blackwell wanted Winslow's name being dragged through the muck for a second time in two weeks._

_She compressed her lips. "Very well," she muttered. "I'll call the janitor."_

_Taylor Hebert smiled sunnily. "**Thank** you."_

* * *

><p>I had the janitor set the new combination on my locker, then I stashed my books inside. Without Sophia – Shadow Stalker – to defeat the lock by the simple expedient of going into her shadow form, they should be reasonably safe there.<p>

Of course, this would not bring back the things that she had stolen from my locker in the past – my mother's flute, for one, or my backpack that one time – but they should be secure for the moment.

I finished stacking the books the way I liked them – new books all, given that the old ones would have had to be burned after the incident – and pulled out the ones I would need for first period. By this time, both Principal Blackwell and the janitor had gone, headed back to their respective duties. But when I turned around, I wasn't alone.

Emma, flanked by Madison, stared coldly at me. Half a dozen other girls backed them up; I knew the type, the ones who wanted to be part of the popular group, but couldn't quite make it on their own. The rest of the hallway was relatively deserted; everyone else had gotten their books and gone elsewhere.

* * *

><p>It had been nearly a year and a half since Emma had inexplicably turned on me, forsaking my friendship for that of Sophia Hess. It was much less inexplicable to me now; I had used my access to Alexandria's Thinker capabilities last night to good effect. I had Sophia's motivations, and Emma's as well, pretty well figured out, presuming a shared, traumatic experience while I'd been at summer camp. Madison was a different story; she was just a follower.<p>

All of this meant that there was a balance of power, and a certain dynamic in their little trio. Quite a lot of their energy went toward bullying me, and Sophia, specifically, had aimed her efforts toward keeping me off balance, on the back foot. Not giving me a chance to muster a response. But now Sophia was no longer a part of the equation, unbalancing the other two, and that had to be worrying Emma and Madison, especially after the events of Monday last. On the other hand, I was very much balanced. Centred, even.

* * *

><p>I smiled.<p>

Emma blinked. It was so obvious; she had been waiting for me to turn around, to notice her and her cronies, to step back, to be so obviously cornered. To show fear.

I wasn't about to give her the pleasure.

Without looking, I put my book in my bag, closed the locker door, and spun the combination lock. Rattled the door to ensure that it was locked. Slung my bag over my shoulder. There were two ways this was going to go; she would back off and leave me alone, or she would push hard, working to re-establish her dominance over me, even with Sophia gone.

"Let me past, Emma," I told her firmly.

Several of the girls snickered. Emma looked me up and down, and audibly sniffed. "Wow, Hebert. I'm surprised you even came back. But maybe you should have showered a little more. I can still smell you."

_So, pushing it is, then. _I ignored the content of her words. They couldn't hurt me any more. "Emma, last warning. Let me past, or I will go _through_ you. Try to stop me, and someone just might get hurt."

"What are you saying, Hebert?" she asked clearly. "Are you saying you might have powers? Are you a cape, Hebert? You know it's illegal to use powers on normals."

I rolled my eyes. "No, you moron," I snapped. "I mean, I'll kick the shit out of you if you get in my way."

I stepped forward; predictably, she brought up her hand to stop me. I let it contact my chest, then grabbed it, took hold of the little finger, twisted. Brought her to her knees, her eyes opening wide.

Another girl tried to grab my shoulder; without looking, I straight-armed her in the chest. She went backward, lost her balance, and sat down hard.

Madison tried to grab my wrist, to make me let go of Emma's finger. I took hold of _her_ wrist with my free hand, and twisted. She went to her knees as well, face turning white.

Five girls faced me. I looked back at them, grim-faced. "First one moves on me, I'll stop being gentle," I told them. "I _will_ hurt someone. Anyone want a broken bone? Come right ahead."

They didn't move. I took a step forward, adjusting my grip so that I didn't break Emma's finger. "Now, step aside."

I wasn't sure what they saw in my face, or heard in my voice, but they stepped aside. It appeared that the 'talking to guys' skills I had picked up from Über's powers also worked when talking to bullies; good to know.

"Good," I told them, and let Emma and Madison go. Walking between the girls, I headed off down the corridor.

"Hebert!" yelled Emma, from behind me. "This isn't over!"

I stopped, and turned around. "You'd better hope it is," I told her bluntly. Turning on my heel, I kept on going.

* * *

><p>I got in trouble, of course.<p>

Emma Barnes had grown up with a lawyer for a father. From him, she had absorbed a certain attitude of entitlement. What she wanted, she got; as the younger daughter, her whims were indulged more often than not. And so, even when she had been my best friend, she had found it very hard to take when she was denied a thing she wanted very much.

I did not know how long it took her to decide to go to Principal Blackwell about me. Nor did I know whether it was her decision or Blackwell's to call Mr Barnes about the matter. But I do know that I had not quite finished first period – Computers, with Mrs Knott, which I was quite enjoying – when the call came for me to report to the office.

Mrs Knott eyed me worriedly as I pushed my books back into my bag and stood up. She was my favourite teacher, just as Computers was my favourite class.

"Is everything all right, Taylor?" she asked me as I came up to the front of the classroom.

I shrugged. "Probably in trouble," I told her. "Not sure how much. Thanks for filling me in on what you did last week."

"That's all right," she responded. "You'd better go now; no sense in being late and getting in more trouble."

I gave her a grin as I left; if what I suspected was going on, I couldn't get in much _more_ trouble.

I entered Principal Blackwell's office, to see Emma, her father, Madison, _her_ father, and the six girls all waiting for me. I ignored them and looked at Blackwell. "You called for me, ma'am?"

She nodded sharply. "Did you assault Emma Barnes and Madison Clements this morning?"

I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise. "Is that what they say? Is that why they're here?"

"You know what you did!" shouted Emma, then her father shushed her.

"Miss Hebert," he began, but I overrode him.

"Where's my father?" I demanded of Blackwell.

"What?" she asked.

"My father," I repeated. "You had the time to call in Mr Barnes and Mr Clements, but you didn't have the time to call in my father? Why is that, exactly? Do I not rate a parent as well?"

"He's not in his office, and we don't have a mobile number for him -" she began.

"He doesn't use a mobile," I interrupted her. "So you had me pulled out of class for _this._ I've got classes to _catch up on,_ Principal Blackwell. Do I need to remind you of the reason I _missed_ those classes?"

"That's got nothing to do with this situation -" she began.

"The _hell_ it doesn't," I snapped. "It's got _everything_ to do with this father isn't here? Fine. I go back to classes, or you send away Mr Barnes and Mr Clements."

"You can't - " she began.

I began to lose my temper, just a little bit. "Do you know what happened, when you and Carl left me at my locker? I had _eight girls_ come at me. _Those_ eight. They say I assaulted them? _I _say I defended myself. How is eight on one fair in any situation, ever?"

"They say they were just walking past -" began Blackwell.

"And just happened to stop me from walking away from my locker," I finished acidly. "Last Monday? That was proof positive that I'm being bullied here at school. Sophia was the ringleader, and she's been pulled out of school because of it."

"You can't know that -" Emma protested.

I grinned at her, showing my teeth. "Believe it." I turned back to Blackwell. "Sophia was bullying me. You know it, and I know it. You also know who her closest friends were." I tilted my head toward Emma and Madison. "I'm not going to point fingers, but surely you can add two and two."

"Wait a minute," Mr Barnes spoke up. "You can't just accuse -"

I turned to him. "Sir, I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I'm the one who's being accused, here. And I still don't see my father. So I'm going back to class."

"If you walk out that door, Miss Hebert," snapped Principal Blackwell, "consider yourself suspended."

I shrugged my backpack on to my shoulders. "If I'm not going to get a fair hearing, I don't see why I should stay." I opened the door.

"Last warning," Blackwell told me.

I looked over my shoulder. "I'll be in tomorrow, with my father."

I walked out the door.

* * *

><p>I was still seething slightly as I walked along the corridor, on the way out of the school. There was no way that I could have won, there. The deck had been stacked; Blackwell had decided – or chosen to believe – that I was at fault, before I ever walked into the room.<p>

Not that I'd done much for my cause earlier, I belatedly realised. Railroading her into getting me a new locker before this incident occurred had simply set her against me at a really bad time.

Thinking it over, I also realised that I had underestimated Emma and Madison. They may not have planned for it, specifically, but once I had retaliated, they had used that against me. If I had stayed to argue my case, I would have had ten people arguing against me, and one biased judge; I wasn't foolish enough to believe that reasoned statements could sway Blackwell, not when Mr Barnes had his courtroom tricks to play on Emma's behalf.

* * *

><p>The bell went for end of period; moments later, the hallways were full of kids, going from one class to another. I kept walking, but I paid attention to my power; I was vaguely curious about whether there were any more parahumans at Winslow.<p>

None had presented themselves by the time I got to my locker, which also meant that Director Piggot probably hadn't sent any Wards over to Winslow to keep an eye on me. Not that I thought she would, not at such short notice. Later on, I suspected, she might. Of course, if she did that, I would know that she was having me watched, and she knew that. _She might send someone unpowered; a PRT employee. Maybe a substitute teacher or something. I'll have to keep an eye out._

She wouldn't do anything blatant, of course; Alexandria's visit had ensured that. I wouldn't be harassed or followed; any school surveillance would be more for my benefit than otherwise, I suspected. Neither Piggot nor Alexandria wanted me to have any _more_ motive to go villain.

I walked out through the doors, down the steps, and across the parking lot to the bus stop. At the forefront of my brain, I was deciding where I wanted to go; home, the library, somewhere else. But deep down, I already knew.

I had _work_ to do.

* * *

><p>Über looked up as I pushed the door open, and entered the building that he and L33t optimistically called their 'base'.<p>

"Hey, Hax," he called out, barely puffing as he performed a flawless round on the Dance Dance Revolution machine they had installed on one wall. "Thought you had school?"

"'Had' is the operative word," I replied. "Had to explain to a couple of people why they didn't put their hands on me, and now I'm suspended."

"Damn," he replied. "Sucks."

I shrugged. "Gives me more time to kick on with you guys, get my shit sorted." My power noted L33t's presence, and I put my light-spot on to him. "So is he still geeking out over the stuff we boosted?"

Über rolled his eyes as he stepped off the machine. "Hasn't stopped. Last I saw, he was trying to decide what he wanted to build next. But hey, I wanted to talk to you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah. When you joined this team, it was on the understanding that you'd participate in our video blog posts. So far, we've done one robbery, and that was on the down-low. We did well by that, really well, but we need to keep putting our name out there. So we need to do something, soon, and you need to participate. So are you ready to do that?"

"That's why I'm here, now," I told him with a grin. "I've got three things to finish up, and then I'll be ready."

"Only three?" he joked. "L33t's usually got half a dozen things on the go."

"Oh, there's more than just three inventions," I assured him. "But I'm making three things."

"So what are they?" he asked, obviously more than a little curious.

My grin widened. "You'll see. It'll knock your socks off."

He shook his head ruefully. "It's easy to see you're just borrowing his power. I've never met a Tinker before who doesn't like to talk about what he's making."

I shrugged. "I guess if I'm not obsessing over it twenty-four hours a day, it makes a difference." I nodded to him. "And by the way, in case I didn't say it before, parkour rocks."

He nodded, a grin of his own spreading across his face. "I know, right?"

We shared a high-five, then he returned to playing his video games. I stashed my lunch in the fridge, then headed into the area we had designated as 'my' work room. I'd done some work here over the weekend, getting my projects up and running, but they were still mostly unfinished. I decided to get the first one done.

* * *

><p>As I had told Über, I had to build machines to finish the project. One was a device to produce a flexible bio-plastic, designed to mimic human flesh and skin, based on the DNA sample that was fed into it. The outer layer would even grow a layer of what looked like fine hair and mimic dead skin cells, as well as fingernails and toenails where needed.<p>

The other device would take a human hair and then replicate it ad infinitum, cutting off lengths roughly the same as the original sample.

After an hour or so of work, I had both the skin maker and the hair replicator up and running, so I could turn my attention to the main part of the project. Some of the more specialised devices that I had liberated from North Side went into it; if I hadn't had them, I would have had to build them. And while I could undoubtedly do just that – I could already figure out how to make those same devices at two-thirds the size and twice the efficiency – that would just be more time before completion. It made sense to acquire what I could, make what I couldn't.

In any case, some of the devices needed to be applied in more than one place, which was why I had picked up spares. I wouldn't have been able to do that; although I could build things that L33t couldn't, I was still unable to build two of the same device at the same time. While swapping out his power for someone else's meant that my limits were reset, an extant device still prevented another from being made. Which was why I was building a self-destruct into everything that I invented; I didn't want someone preventing me from building a spare tool, just by locking the original away from me.

* * *

><p>The work went well; I completed the basic work on the project, then started applying the external detail. It looked and felt really odd, even creepy. But the end result would be worth it.<p>

Every detail had to be absolutely perfect; I had brought a mirror in, and did a lot of checking, but it seemed to look about right. Even the mole in the small of my back was correct, even though I could think of no circumstances where someone might be able to check on that. Certain details I'm going to gloss over altogether; let's just say 'anatomically correct' and leave it at that.

Finally, I fitted the control unit to the back of my neck, and sent the mental impulse to wake it up.

* * *

><p><em>Ishe awoke._

It was a really weird feeling; I was seeing and hearing through my eyes and ears, and also through my double's, who was leaning on a stand I had thrown together. I exerted my concentration, my control.

_I/she stepped forward off the stand. My/her body worked well; flexible, smooth, no hesitation or jerkiness. Reaching up, I/she touched my/her finger to the tip of my/her nose. "Coordination good," I/she noted._

_I/she smiled._

I smiled as well.

* * *

><p>I practised for a little while, making sure that I could do one thing while my double did another. I hadn't gone for a full AI; while possible, that would have been hard to put together in the available volume. Instead, I had cheated. Motor control was supplied by the brain I had put together for it. Personality and memories, on the other hand, were supplied over the control link; the longer I stayed connected, the more impressions it picked up from me, and the more it became like me. Best, if it needed to make a decision in real time, it could use the link to pull hints on what to do from my memories, without any conscious control required.<p>

Once I was satisfied with my double, I had her put clothes on – I had brought spares – and then I opened the work room door.

* * *

><p><em>L33t lounged back, chewing on a sandwich. "So how long she been in there?" he asked.<em>

"_Six, seven hours," Über replied. "Once she gets going, she's like you. Doesn't want to let go."_

_L33t nodded. "It's a Tinker thing," he agreed. "She say what she's making?"_

"_Nope." Über shook his head and finished off his protein shake. "Wouldn't say a word about it."_

"_Yeah, well, that's **not** a Tinker thing," L33t informed him._

"_Hey, I said that too," Über noted._

_And then the workroom door opened. They both looked over; Hax strolled out, looking rather pleased with herself. "Guys," she greeted them, heading over to the fridge and pulling out her lunch._

_Über went to greet her, but L33t tapped him on the shoulder, and pointed at the open door to the work room. Hax was emerging from the room, again. But this one was wearing different clothes, and moved a little more hesitantly. She looked around, as if seeing the room for the first time._

"_Holy shit," Über marvelled. "You built a body double."_

_Hax grinned as she pulled out a chair and sat next to the other two; the double was wandering around the room, examining things carefully. "Yup. What do you think?" She opened the bag lunch and pulled out the fruit juice._

_L33t got up and walked over to the double. He examined her; she looked back at him with a certain amount of curiosity. "Hello," she greeted him, in a curiously childlike tone._

_He walked all the way around her, examining her closely. "I can't see any physical flaws," he concluded, "but she's going to need to be socialised before she can pass for you in company."_

"_Actually, that's not going to be a problem," Hax told him, shaking up the juice bottle._

"_Why not?" asked Über curiously._

_Hax grinned. "Because I'm the double."_

_Both men turned to stare at her, then at the 'double', still standing in front of L33t. The latter nodded cheerfully. "Yup," she confirmed. __"Changed clothes with her, to see if you guys would pick up on it."_

_The double, still seated, tossed the juice to her; Hax caught it, twisted the top off, and took a long swallow. While she was still doing so, the double went on. "So yeah, you think I'll pass for the original?"_

"_Holy shit," muttered Über._

"_Holy fucking hell," L33t paraphrased._

* * *

><p>I stopped drinking from the juice bottle, and grinned at them both. "I'm gonna take that as a yes."<p>

"Fucking _hell_, yes," Über praised me. He looked closely at the double. "That's insane. I still can't tell the difference, and you're both in the same room."

I shrugged modestly, and wandered over to retrieve my bag lunch. "Wouldn't be much point, otherwise."

"So what do we call her?" asked L33t.

Opening my pita wrap, I looked at him. "I'm going with 'Alibi'."

* * *

><p>End of Part Twelve<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

**Trump Card**

* * *

><p>Part Thirteen: Preparation<p>

* * *

><p><em>Danny sat up on the sofa as the key rattled in the back door lock. Checking his watch, he frowned; it was late for Taylor to come in, and on a school night too. And the message he had found on the phone from Principal Blackwell …<em>

_With a sigh, he stood up from the sofa. As the back door opened, he walked through into the kitchen. Taylor saw him as she stepped inside; she didn't seem overly concerned._

"_Hi, Dad." She closed the door and locked it, then dropped the key on the table. "I'll put that back in the morning."_

"_Taylor," he began. "Principal Blackwell rang me today, and left a very disturbing message on the machine."_

"_Of course she did," Taylor replied, opening the fridge. "Can I use some of the ham? I haven't had anything since lunchtime."_

_He found her lack of concern … worrying. "Taylor, this is serious," he persisted. "She told me that you were suspended due to your behaviour. That you acted in a totally disrespectful manner, and then stormed out of the school when she tried to discipline you."_

_She closed the fridge door and turned to face him. "Yeah, I know it's serious. You want to know what really happened?"_

_He nodded. "Of course I do."_

_She took a deep breath. "Emma and the others tried to bully me. I fought back. I didn't hurt anyone, not really, but they went to Principal Blackwell. She decided that this was grounds to call Mr Barnes and Mr Clements in on it, and they were going to face me, eleven on one." Her tone became very dry. "Of course, they couldn't reach **you** in time."_

_Danny felt anger building inside of him. "And so you left … ?"_

_She shrugged. "If I stayed, they would have thrown their accusations at me, and I wouldn't have been able to face all of them down at once. She wouldn't make Mr Barnes and Mr Clements leave, and you weren't there, so I left. She threatened me with suspension if I just walked out, but I figured it was the better option than stay and fight a losing battle."_

"_Christ," Danny ground out. "The woman's gone too far."_

_She put her hand on his arm. "Dad, we can deal with this. What we've got to do is work out a strategy that doesn't end in a big legal battle. Because if we go at them head to head, Mr Barnes **will** pull out the big guns to protect Emma. You know it, and I know it."_

_His anger faded slightly as he looked at her, the calm demeanour, the collected posture. "You've been thinking about this."_

_She nodded. "All day. Ever since I left school." Turning back to the fridge, she opened it again, pulling out bread and butter and the packet of ham. "Now, all they can really get me on is leaving the school grounds without permission. That's barely a blip on the radar; I know of kids who haven't attended three days in five." She began to butter a slice of bread._

"_And the assault charges?"_

_She didn't look up, intent on her task. "No bruises, except maybe the girl who ended up on her ass. I didn't break Emma's finger, or Madison's wrist. Madison might have a mark on her wrist, but I doubt it. No doctor will find anything wrong with either one of them."_

_Danny blinked. She was so casually discussing the aftermath of a fight against superior odds, from which she had emerged victorious. **Taylor really has changed.** "So you have a strategy in mind?"_

_This time, she looked up and grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."_

* * *

><p>I put down the soldering iron, clicked the goggles to clear view, and checked my work by eye. The outer carapace looked good; I got up and walked around it. Clicking the rim of the goggles again activated the magnification function – they had taken barely half an hour to put together, while I was taking a break from the main project – and I examined the joins minutely. Another click gave me thermal sensing; the carapace was cooling nicely, with no stress fracturing.<p>

"Excellent." I stretched; my back popped oddly. This gave me the clue as to how long I had been working in the same posture; I stretched again, more extravagantly, and more vertebrae clicked.

I had brought a cheap alarm clock in to my work room, and now I checked it. "Wow, that late?"

I had known it wasn't early; Alibi had already gotten home, had her discussion with Dad, eaten a sandwich and gone up to bed. I just hadn't realised it was _that_ late.

Just as I usually did, Alibi had had a shower before going to bed, which I'd used as an opportunity to ensure that nothing needed adjusting on the chassis. But everything seemed to be working well; externally, she was identical to me to several decimal places.

Alibi didn't need to sleep, of course, but she could enter a shutdown mode which mimicked it fairly well. The sandwich she'd eaten would be converted to energy using a basic simulacrum of the human digestive system; she could also eat garbage or drink gasoline for energy, although the former would generate excess methane, and the latter would give her a very distinctive smell for quite some time afterward. Her internal systems had been optimised for normal, processed foods; that sandwich, reduced to its most basic molecules, could supply her with energy for several days if necessary.

I was pleased, although not totally surprised, that Dad had been fooled by her. After the dry run with Über and L33t, I had been confident that she could pass as me with reasonable certainty. And so it had happened; Alibi had talked with Dad, following the prompts I was giving her, while I continued working on my second major project.

I did feel a bit bad about pulling the wool over Dad's eyes like this, but I figured it was necessary; if he didn't know about Alibi, he couldn't accidentally give the secret away. And, for all intents and purposes, it _was_ me in the driver's seat. I just had Alibi's brain handling all the routine stuff while I did the actual thinking.

"Maybe I'd better get some sleep after all," I told myself. The basic chassis of the second project was complete. I knew what I needed to do next on it, but that would go well into the morning, and would require my full attention. And while Tinkers were (in)famous for working long hours to finish their projects, it wasn't as though I couldn't take my time on this.

After all, I didn't have to worry any more about splitting my time between work and school.

* * *

><p><em>Principal Blackwell's intercom beeped. She pressed the button. "Yes?"<em>

"_**Taylor Hebert is here with her father to see you, ma'am."**_

"_What?"_

"_**Taylor Hebert, ma'am. She's here to see you. Her father is with her."**_

"_Oh, uh, I'm busy. Tell them to make an appointment."_

_She heard her secretary begin to say just that, until a masculine voice intruded. **"It's about Sophia Hess."**_

_Sophia Hess. Shadow Stalker. The only member of the Wards to attend Winslow High. If Taylor's father knew something about her, then …_

_She pressed the intercom button again. "Show them in."_

_The door opened, and Taylor entered, followed by her father. Carrie Blackwell tried to remember his name, but only managed to recall that it started with the letter D. They took seats without being invited; Taylor had her backpack over her shoulder._

_Principal Blackwell checked that the door was closed and the intercom switched off before speaking; even then, she kept her voice low. "What do you know about Sophia Hess?"_

"_That she's Shadow Stalker, and that she and her friends bullied me for over a year without any of you doing a single damn thing about it," Taylor told her, in an equally low, but rather intense, tone of voice._

"_We didn't know -" began Blackwell._

"_Then you're the most incompetent staff that I've ever seen at any school, ever," snapped Hebert. As he spoke, Taylor opened her bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers._

"_You will not speak to me in that fashion," Carrie began, but was interrupted by Taylor slapping the thick sheaf down in front of her. "What's this?" she asked._

"_A documentation of the last four months," Taylor informed her. "Day by fucking day. Read that and tell me that you didn't see or hear of a single one of those incidents."_

_Blackwell looked at it, then up at the two expectant faces. "I – you want me to read that **now**? It's rather thick - "_

"_Yes, it is, isn't it?" Danny – that was his name, Danny – agreed, leaning forward over the desk. "That's because there's a **lot **of it. A lot of incidents that happened to Taylor **at this school.**"_

"_Incidents which I documented," Taylor continued. "Which **will **be verified by the police."_

_Carrie Blackwell blinked. "The police? How will they verify it?"_

_Taylor grinned, or at least showed her teeth. "You may recall the incident on Monday. You will have been warned by the PRT to tell no-one about it."_

"_I signed a non-disclosure agreement," the principal confirmed._

_Danny nodded. "Well, Alexandria paid us a visit just the other night. She informed us that Sophia will be going into custody and being prosecuted for her crimes against Taylor. They will be going through her phone, and finding out whatever else she has done. And I imagine that they will be passing on evidence of any other crimes, say, ones which Emma and Madison assisted in, to the police to deal with."_

_Taylor tapped on the stack of paper. "And what do you want to bet that they'll find texts that match the incidents, down to the date, in this list?"_

_Carrie was barely listening. "You're trying to tell me that **Alexandria **paid you a visit?"_

_Taylor nodded. "This is one of the things you don't tell anyone, but yeah. She apologised for the way the PRT has been treating me, and promised that they'd leave me alone."_

_The way she spoke convinced Blackwell most of all. There was no swagger, no boasting, no embellishment. She just stated it, straight out. And from what she'd heard of the actual fight, of the powers that Taylor had exhibited … she wasn't entirely ready to dismiss the story out of hand._

"_Now, I **could** take this list straight to the media," Danny suggested quietly, "but do you really want that?"_

_He didn't have to explain how badly that could go for her, once the news got hold of that list. Interviews of students and teachers, all of them anxious for their five minutes of fame._

"_The staff wouldn't talk," she protested weakly, knowing even as she said it how wrong she was._

_Danny snorted. "Talk? They'll be competing to see who can be first to throw you under the bus. You're the one who knew about it and condoned it; they all could see what was happening, and were powerless to stop it because of orders from above, and so on, and so forth. You go, one of them gets the top spot. Want to take bets on who it'll be?"_

_Blackwell slumped back into her chair. They had her over a barrel, well and truly. "What is it that you want?" she asked; it was almost a whisper._

"_Revoke the suspension," Taylor stated flatly. "I didn't assault those girls, and you know it. I just want to go to school."_

"_But the assault complaint is down in the record now," Blackwell protested._

_Taylor rolled her eyes. "Fine. Give me detention for a couple of days. I won't attend, but you can say I did."_

_Carrie grimaced. "You're undermining my authority here -" she began, but Danny was shaking his head._

"_We haven't even **started**," he warned her. "Give Taylor her detention. And from here on in, she gets the same treatment everyone else does. Or I start looking at the list."_

_Blackwell thought of protesting that everyone in the school was treated equally, but decided not to. For one thing, it would be a blatant lie, and she knew it. So too, she figured, did Taylor._

_Besides, the price she was having to pay was amazingly light; to allow Taylor Hebert to attend school? It wasn't even blackmail, not really._

_Which did raise an ugly possibility. "If you try to blackmail me -" she began._

_Danny shook his head. "Didn't even cross our minds," he assured her. "Doing this the legal way is much easier. Just let Taylor go to school, and make sure she isn't harassed, and we're good."_

**_Make sure she isn't harassed._**_ The phrase hung in the air. Blackwell finally felt the jaws of the trap closing on her. If the thickness of that list was anything to go by, Taylor had been harassed every single day she had been at Winslow. _**_Every. Day._**

_If that list was not to go to the media, and the inability of the school to prevent the bullying of one teenage girl was not to come to light, then she would actually have to make an effort to ensure that every teacher specifically watched out for Taylor's well-being._

_Again, father and daughter were observing her expectantly. She stared back at them, feeling that she was slowly sinking into a bog, with no bottom in sight._

"_Fine." She forced the word out. "You have a deal."_

_Danny smiled widely; the expression looked genuine. "Great."_

_Taylor got to her feet, and slipped the sheaf of papers back into her bag. She looked Blackwell in the eye. "Why couldn't you have done this a year ago?"_

_Before the principal could formulate a reply, she had opened the door to the outer office, and was gone._

_Danny paused, and looked over his shoulder as he followed his daughter. "Just make sure. No harassment. None." His voice was flat and hard._

_The door closed behind him. Blackwell turned to her intercom and pressed the buttons that gave her access to the school PA system._

"**_This is Principal Blackwell speaking. All year ten teaching staff will report immediately, repeat immediately, to my office."_**

_Switching off the microphone, she took a deep breath, and then another. This was not going to be fun._

* * *

><p>I grinned as I finished calibrating the Manton field generator. That had been kinda fun, even at second hand. Controlling Alibi was becoming less and less strange to me; to be honest, I rather got a kick out of it. It was like I could think on two different wavelengths or more at once, and Alibi got one of those wavelengths and I was already on another. I didn't switch between one and the other; I didn't even juggle them. I just … used them both. At the same time. It was seriously awesome.<p>

As Alibi said her goodbyes to Dad, I started in on the holocloak device. It was an important aspect to the project, and I wanted to make sure it worked the way I wanted it to.

Über knocked on the doorframe, then stuck his head into my workroom. "Hey, Hax," he greeted me. "You're up early. Or did you not go to sleep?"

I glanced over my shoulder at him. "I acquired some meditation techniques using your power, and spent some time doing that," I explained. "Also, I did get some sleep." The camp bed in the corner wasn't the most comfortable, but it had the advantage of being close to my work.

"Christ, from the stuff you've gotten done, not much sleep," he commented. "Can I come in?"

I nodded. "Sure. I needed to take a break anyway. One more thing to do, and then I can finish off my last project."

He strolled on into the room, and observed my second project.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked rhetorically.

I answered him anyway. "Sure. It's a Tinker thing."

He frowned. "But it's not very thematic. It's very … generic. You won't be able to use it on most of our jobs."

I grinned. "I thought of that."

I didn't elaborate; after a moment, he raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to tell me what you're doing, are you?"

My grin widened, and I shook my head.

He sighed. "If your powers weren't so goddamn hax, I'd be so pissed off at you right now. Anyway, L33t was going to get something to eat. What would you like?"

Automatically, I reached for my purse. "Not sure how much money I've got -"

Chuckling, he waved me off. "No need. That heist the other night, if we sell even ten percent of what we got, just the generic stuff, we're gonna have dollars to spare. You earned your keep that night, keeping Aegis and Vista off our backs. Plus, getting into the vault. And getting us out of there."

"Sure," I told him. Grabbing my notepad and turning to a blank page, I started writing. "Gonna need a few things. We're lacking stuff around here, so we may as well make this a shopping trip."

When I handed him the page, he blinked at it. "Holy crap, is your order on here at all?"

I rolled my eyes, and took the page back. Turning it over, I scribbled my fast-food order. "Seriously, we need to pay more attention to nutrition. Bring me ingredients and I'll cook. Or you can. Because you can't tell me that you don't know how to cook."

Über shrugged. "Two guys. What can I say?"

I rolled my eyes again. If I was going to be working with these guys, there were going to be some _changes_ around here.

* * *

><p><em>Blackwell looked at all the teachers assembled in her office.<em>

"_What's this about?" asked Gladly. "I've got a lesson plan -"_

"_Shut up," she told him harshly, then addressed the group. "Who here knows the girl called Taylor Hebert?"_

_Mrs Knott cleared her throat. "I know her. She's in my home room class."_

_The rest of them stared at Carrie; she stared back. "Taylor Hebert. Tall, long curly brown hair, glasses." She held up a photo. "**This** girl, for crying out loud."_

_Gladly also stepped forward. "Yeah, I remember her now."_

_A few more teachers stepped forward; the rest hung back. Blackwell eyed the latter. "Are you absolutely certain that you don't teach any classes that she's in?"_

_A murmur of voices assured her that no, they didn't know her. Her lips tightened. "Fine. What I'm about to tell you stays in this office. You tell no-one. No-one at all. Not any students, not any teachers, not any parents. Is that perfectly understood?"_

_The teachers looked at one another, then at her. "Uh, why not?" asked Gladly._

_Blackwell gritted her teeth. "Because I **told** you," she snapped. "Okay, now, it's really simple. You know her face now. If you see her being harassed in any way, you stop it. Stop it dead. You don't let anyone tease her, bully her, push her around, call her names, anything. At all. Full stop."_

_She took a deep breath and spoke slowly, carefully. "It doesn't matter **who** the other person is. Who their father is, or their mother. If they are harassing Taylor Hebert in any way, then you pull them up as hard as you need to." She met their eyes, one at a time. "If I find that you've been falling down on the job, then you won't **have** your job here for much longer." She paused. "Is there anyone here who does not understand what I've just told you?"_

_That idiot Gladly raised his hand slightly. "I, uh, understand," he told her hastily. "But what I don't get is why? What's so special about her?"_

_Blackwell eyed him sourly. "She's a student at Winslow. She's being bullied. Do not allow this. Do you need a better reason?"_

"_But -" he began, then she cut him off._

"_Mr Gladly," she growled, holding thumb and forefinger very close together, "I am **this** close to reviewing your employment here, and finding a replacement who can follow directives. **Do not push me**."_

"_I, uh, yes, ma'am," he stammered, face turning red._

"_Good," she told him shortly. "Now all of you, get out of my office."_

_When the door closed behind the last of them, she slumped back into her chair. **Oh god, I hope that's enough.**_

* * *

><p>L33t complained loudly as he staggered into the base, carrying the laden shopping bags. "These are killing my hands. Couldn't someone have come along to help?"<p>

"You said you wanted to go on your own, bro," Über reminded him. "I did show you her list before you went."

L33t turned to me. "Well, fuck. What's with all this shit, anyway? Gonna use it for chemical Tinker work? Because I don't think my powers work that way."

I snorted. "Nope. But I figure that Über's power could give me the skills to make bombs from this stuff anyway." I looked from one to the other. "No, we need to do some cleaning around here."

L33t frowned. "We keep it clean!"

"Clean-_ish,"_ I corrected him. "You'll see the difference. That's why I got you to get cleaning products. Plus, a new shower curtain. The old one has so much mould on it that I don't even like to touch it. Also, that lock? It's for the bathroom door. That one's kind of important."

"We're not going to burst in on you when you're in the shower," protested Über.

I shook my head. "No, but it's my privacy, you know? We're going to need a separate trash can in the bathroom, too."

"What for?" demanded L33t. "Isn't the one we've already got good enough for you?"

I smiled, very slightly. "Ask me again in a month's time."

Über got it first. He grabbed L33t's shoulder. "Dude. Do _not_ argue." L33t opened his mouth anyway; Über leaned close and whispered in his ear.

L33t stared at me with a horrified look on his face. "What, you - ?"

I nodded, once. "Yes. Do I get my trash can?"

Über spoke for him. "You get your trash can."

I smiled again. "Thank you. And just to prove that having me here isn't going to be all pushy demands and dreaded feminine secrets, tonight I'll make you both my mother's famous lasagne dish. And hell, I'll even game with you, if you want."

L33t's eyes lit up. "You play video games too?"

My smile grew to a grin. "Nope, but by tonight I will be." I pointed at the supplies he had bought. "Breakfast first. Then we need to do some stuff around here."

* * *

><p>Things got a little domestic after that. I cleaned the stove and started making the lasagne, while Über installed the lock on the bathroom door, and L33t (not without some grumbling) started cleaning around the place. Once the lasagne was in, I went into the bathroom; Über had replaced the curtain, and the lock was in place.<p>

"Excellent," I told him, and set about cleaning the shower cubicle. It obviously hadn't been scrubbed in some time, and I was tempted to Tinker up something to do just that, but doing it the hard way was kind of soothing. In the meantime, I tapped into Über's power, and learned how to play video games.

By the time I had the cubicle sparkling, the cleaning outside had been done, and the pair were settling down to some quality video gaming. I checked on the lasagne, which was doing well, then wandered over to watch them.

"Grab a controller and join in," Über invited, waving at an empty stretch of sofa. "We need a sniper."

"In a bit," I excused myself. "I really need to get the project done."

"You can do that later," he told me. "Right now, we're gaming."

"Sooner I finish it, sooner I can get out there and strut my stuff as Hax," I reminded him.

"Half an hour," L33t urged. "I'm not in there Tinkering. You don't have to either."

I grinned and plumped down on the sofa. "Right," I agreed, grabbing the controller. "Which screen's mine?"

With my pre-installed skills, it didn't take long for me to set up my account in the system, and then we started play. I found I liked being a sniper, using an electronic gun to shoot electronic enemies in the head before they even saw me. Über and L33t were into it too, praising each other – and me – for particularly awesome kills.

It was _fun._

* * *

><p><em>Mr Gladly had glanced at meher when he entered the World Affairs classroom, and every now and again he glanced again, as if he was not quite sure if he wanted me/her there. I/she was fairly sure what the topic of conversation had been when Blackwell had called the grade ten teachers in to her office. It just remained to be seen if her instructions had been stringent enough._

_He had put us together in groups; I/she had Sparky and Greg, as well as Kaia, one of Madison's friends. "What I want you to do today," he told us, "is to take a single cape and determine the impact he or she has had on the world since getting powers. Now, Scion is out, but the Triumvirate are fair game. However, I don't want everyone talking about just them. So each group has to pick two capes; if you clash with someone else, you have to go with your secondary."_

_Sparky already seemed to be asleep; Greg was enthusiastic, but I/she wasn't wild about his choices. Kaia ignored the whole process, choosing to talk instead to Madison, who was in the next group over. In the end, I/she allowed Greg to choose Lung as our primary, but insisted on Dragon as a secondary; as a Tinker (at the moment) I/she had a certain interest in her career._

_Of course, Kaia objected to our choices as soon as we presented them to her. "Why didn't you ask me?" she demanded. "You should have asked me."_

"_You were **talking**," I/she reminded her. "We did ask you. You ignored us."_

_She raised her hand. "Mr G," she complained. "My group won't listen to what I say. Can I join Madison's group?"_

_Mr Gladly looked over at us. "Kaia was talking to Madison," I/she told him. "We chose Lung and Dragon. Are either of those taken?"_

"_No!" Kaia insisted. "I didn't get to choose! What if I wanted someone else?"_

_Her raised voice had gotten attention across the classroom; everyone had turned to look. Mr Gladly looked at me/her, then at Kaia. "Ms Hendricks, your group has made a choice. You should have participated," he informed her curtly. "And no, you can't join Madison's group."_

"_But, Mr G -"_

"_I said no," he retorted, then looked at us. "Lung has already been taken, but Dragon is free."_

"_But **we** were going to take Dragon!" shouted Madison from her group. "It's not fair! We chose her first!"_

_Again, Mr Gladly glanced at me/her; he seemed to grimace. Looking back at Madison, he shook his head. "They asked me before you did. They get Dragon. What's your secondary?"_

"_Legend," she told him sulkily._

"_Taken, sorry," he informed her. "Pick another couple of capes."_

"_But we picked Dragon **first**," she whined. "Why do they get to pick first?"_

"_You have thirty seconds to pick, or I send you to Principal Blackwell's office for being obstructive in class," he told her sternly._

_Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at him. "Mr G -"_

"_Twenty-five seconds."_

_I/she stopped paying attention, and turned to Greg and Kaia. Both seemed to be watching the drama; Greg avidly, Kaia with a certain amount of shock. Never had Mr Gladly brought the boom down on Madison so thoroughly._

"_Guys?" I/she murmured. "Dragon. Ideas on what she's done to change the world?"_

_In the end, I/she wrote most of the joint project my/herself; Kaia spent the remainder of the class commiserating with Madison about being stuck with Miss Militia, and Greg's 'information' about Dragon seemed to be mainly half-baked theories about her powers, capabilities and general situation. Stuff which, I/she had no doubt, he had trawled off some of the more dubious threads in the PHO boards. Seriously, Dragon an AI? Who did he think he was kidding?_

_When we stood up and read out our presentations, Madison gave me/her dirty looks all the way through. With Greg's dubious assistance, I/she had managed to put together something reasonably complete; Madison and her group had assembled a list of supervillains whom Miss Militia had shot. She had wanted Dragon, that was for sure. Unfortunately for her, Mr Gladly had upheld my/her choice over Madison's._

_I/she didn't relax, but there was a faint smile on my/her face when the bell rang for lunch. It appeared that Blackwell was holding up her end of the bargain. So far, anyway._

* * *

><p>Video gaming over, I checked on the lasagne again – it was fine, but I turned it down a little, so it could spend all afternoon baking properly – and went back to my work-room. I'd kept the light-spot on Über during the game session, so that I could properly hone my skills, but now I put it back on L33t. I 'saw' the spot moving toward the bathroom; a moment later, he hurried back over toward where I had last seen Über.<p>

"Dude," I heard him faintly say, "I never knew the shower cubicle was _that_ colour."

Grinning, I got back to work.

* * *

><p><em>Danny looked up when Taylor strolled in through the front door and into the living room.<em>

"_You're back kind of early," he noted._

"_School's out," she reminded him._

_He cleared his throat. "But your … uh … after school job?" he insinuated delicately._

_She grinned. "Oh, I've got that taken care of."_

_He blinked. "Taken care of, as in … ?"_

"_As in, taken care of," she repeated. "Not to be worried about."_

"_Oh," he replied dubiously. "If you're sure."_

"_Sure I'm sure," she told him with a grin. "So, what's for dinner?"_

"_Lasagne," he told her, and wondered why she started giggling._

* * *

><p>"Holy crap, this is awesome!"<p>

I tasted the lasagne; it _was_ about the best I'd ever managed. Between Mom's recipe and Über's power to pick up cooking skills, I had nailed it exactly. However, L33t's startled exclamation still caused both myself and Über to grin at him.

"It _is_ pretty good," Über commented. "Can we have this again, sometime?"

I nodded. "Sure," I agreed. "It's not that hard to make. I can give you the recipe, if you want."

Something seemed to occur to L33t. "Dude," he accused Über. "You can cook, or at least you can _learn_ how to cook. Why don't _you_ ever cook like this?"

Über shrugged. "I, uh, never felt like it?"

I stuck my fork through another slice of lasagne. "I have other recipes, too. Spaghetti carbonara, for instance."

L33t looked at me pleadingly. "Is it as good as this?"

It was my turn to shrug. "Dad seems to like it."

Über grinned and elbowed him. "And you complained about carrying the ingredients back."

L33t studied the forkful that he'd been just about to put in his mouth. "_This_ came from what I bought today?"

I nodded. "Sure. I can show you how too, if you want?"

He blinked. "Uh, no, I'm good. But I'm never complaining about shopping ever again. This is _awesome."_

Über smirked. "And you were bitching so hard about having a pushy girl on the team."

L33t waved another forkful of lasagne; the previous one had gone the way of all food. "A pushy girl – meh. A pushy girl who games _and_ cooks? I'm good with that."

For some reason, Über and I found that hilarious.

* * *

><p>"<em>So, the PRT is interested in Taylor Hebert, but is not actively surveilling her," Coil mused. "Of course, hitting the house would be too obvious. Likewise, the school."<em>

_He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. The various possibilities turned over in his mind._

_There was a note in the file indicating suspicion that she had linked up with one of the lesser-known criminal gangs; the main suspicion was toward Über and L33t. But she wasn't with them now, and nor had she been there over the last twenty-four hours. It was possible, even probable, that she had decided to sheer away from the life of a supervillain, especially after the close call with the PRT._

_**All the better for me**, he decided. **When she disappears, they'll think she tried to join up with another villain gang, and it went bad.**_

_That she **would** disappear, he had no doubt. What Coil wanted, Coil got. Whatever it took to get it._

* * *

><p>With a sigh of relief, I snapped the cover shut on my third project, and hit the self-test button. It hummed, and LEDs flickered on and off. Moments later, it shut itself down again; one green LED shone brightly, to show that the self-test had been successful.<p>

I clicked the goggles back to ordinary vision, and stretched. My back popped again, and I felt my neck crack. Glancing at the clock, I blinked. Where did the time go?

Immediately, an idea flitted into my head for a device that compressed time in an area, so I could get hours of work (or sleep) done in minutes. It was intriguing, but I didn't have the time, or equipment, to build it right at that moment. So I jotted down a note to myself before I could forget about it.

Leaning out the workroom door, I noted that Über was playing a solo game. L33t, I gathered from the location of the light-spot, was in _his_ workshop, no doubt Tinkering.

"Hey," I called to Über. "I've finished. Want me to demonstrate?"

He looked up. "Sure. Just let me save this level and get L33t."

"Okay," I replied. "I'll put it on while I'm waiting."

Putting it on was relatively easy; I had bracelets attached to my wrists and ankles, with RFID chips in them. Another resided in the goggles I was still wearing. I backed up to the suit, clicked the lens frame, and spoke the activation phrase.

Which, as it happened, was "Armsmaster is a dick."

The armour responded, opening like a flower. It flowed forward, clamping around my wrists and ankles. One by one, it lifted my feet, and formed around them. I felt it wrapping itself around my body, folding around my head. It was like being hugged, all over, by something that really, really liked me. A lot.

When it came to rest, fully enclosing my body, a good forty seconds had passed. I had ideas for speeding the process up, but I didn't want to endanger myself in the process; getting a sprained wrist or a broken ankle was all too possible if I ignored safeguards. I had seen that Earth Aleph movie about the fictional superhero called Iron Man. Armour pieces flying into place? I shuddered. That could go very bad, very quickly.

With the armour in place, it made the connection with my goggles, and the HUD lit up. With pupil movements, I cued up a full diagnostic; this scrolled past at a speed just slow enough for me to speed-read it (Über again). Everything seemed to be in order, save a few minor glitches, which I could easily deal with later.

As I took my first few experimental steps in the armour, Über and L33t appeared at the doorway to my workroom.

"Holy shit," L33t exclaimed. "You fucking built power armour. I am officially jealous."

Über frowned. "I still say it looks generic. And are you taller?"

I nodded. "Lifts in the boots." They both looked a little startled; the voice which they heard had been adjusted to be a little lower and more musical. More adult, even.

"I heard that," Über noted. "Make it harder to pinpoint who you really are."

I grinned, but with my face covered (save for the goggles) he of course could not see me. "As the old saying goes, you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Again I accessed the HUD. "Now, I know this is a limited selection, but I'm sure we can come up with more," I commented as I made my choice. Nothing happened at first, then a gridwork appeared over the armour. Following that, the gridwork filled in, and colour was added. Then texture, and highlights.

L33t's jaw dropped, followed by Über's.

"Holy shit," L33t marvelled. "Master Chief armour. Holy shit."

"How are you _doing_ that?" Über wanted to know.

"Holocloak, duh," L33t informed him. "What else can you do?"

I cycled through a couple more variations of Halo armour, then on to other types.

"Like I said," I told them as I went back to the Master Chief armour, "I don't have many types yet. But I can add more."

"God damn," Über told me sincerely. "I am _impressed."_

I cleared my throat. "Not done yet."

"Yeah?" asked L33t.

"Yeah," I confirmed. Turning, I headed for the worktable where I had left the third project. Moving in the armour became easier and easier the more I did it; after all, I _had_ programmed it to adjust to my movements. Pretty soon, I wouldn't even notice that I was wearing it.

* * *

><p>Hefting the oversized rifle, I went back to Über and L33t. "I wanted to use the holocloak to change the look of this too," I told them, "but not even my hax powers let me bend the rules like that. So I went with a physical cheat." Linking the rifle into my HUD, I activated its change mode; panels moved and shifted, components slid around, and the rifle reshaped in my hands. In moments, it had emulated several of the bulkier hand-held weapons in popular video games.<p>

"So does it fire different shots when it changes shape?" Über wanted to know.

"Uh, no," I confessed. "It only does one thing."

"What's that?" L33t wanted to know.

"It stuns things," I told him.

There was a moment of silence, as they looked at the rifle – big enough to be a reasonable match for _me_ in size and weight, were I out of the armour – and then back at me.

"Just stun?" asked L33t. "At that size?"

Implicit in his statement was the meaning that if _he_ built a longarm that big, it would do one hell of a lot more than 'stun' its target. And to be honest, he was right; it did look dangerous enough to blow a hole through a skyscraper.

I shook my head. "You don't get it. This gun is built to stun _anyone._"

Über stared at me. _"Anyone?"_

I nodded. "Any. One. Point this, fire it. If it hits, it _will_ stun them. First micro-second of the beam is actually a carrier wave; it analyses how much effect the beam is having, and sends a message back to the gun, which then ramps it up to the necessary intensity. But even if an unintended target gets hit by accident, the most that will happen is they spend an hour or so in dreamland. One hundred per cent nonlethal."

Über blinked. "Robots? People in power armour?"

I'd thought about that. "Non-damaging EMP."

"Alexandria?"

I shrugged. "Maybe ten seconds."

L33t was looking slightly stunned himself. I figured he was retro-engineering it in his head.

"An Endbringer?" asked Über.

"Maybe about one second," I hazarded. "But I'd need to connect up an extension cord. To a nuclear reactor. _And_ the gun would explode."

L33t shook his head. "Yeah, no," he agreed. "But anything short of an Endbringer … wow."

Über grinned, and slapped me on the back. "We," he declared, "are gonna fuckin' _rock."_

* * *

><p>End of Part Thirteen<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

_[Author's Note: This is not an official part of Trump Card 'canon'. It's just a fun little crack omake I wrote about shard interaction.]_

* * *

><p><strong>Three Shards Walk into A Bar ...<strong>

* * *

><p>All was quiet in the Shard Bar. The Ward and Protectorate shards were on one side of the room, making faces at the ABB and E88 shards on the other. The Merchant shards were sitting in the corner, quietly getting stoned. The Coil shard sat at the bar, sipping its drink, covertly watching everyone.<p>

And then the Hax shard walked in, with the Uber shard on one arm, and the L33t shard on the other.

"Holy shit," muttered the Aegis shard. "That's Hax! Did I tell you about the beatdown I got from her? She really knows how to use my powers!"

"Hell yes," the Vista shard agreed enthusiastically. "She used your powers to beat _me_ up, after using my powers to sneak up on me! That's seriously hardcore!"

"Hey," called out the Shadow Stalker shard, "don't forget about me. I'm the one who triggered her, after all. _And_ got beat down with my own powers, before all you jerks."

"Shut up, you're in jail," the Clockblocker shard retorted, getting off its stool.

"Hey, where you going?" asked the Kid Win shard.

"I want to get her autograph, and maybe some tips on using my powers, like she gave you, and Miss Militia," the Clockblocker shard replied.

The Kid Win shard rolled its eyes. "She's never been the same since. Every time we mention Hax around her, she just smiles dreamily and murmurs something about 'asymmetric dual wielding'."

* * *

><p>The trio approached the bar. "So, what would you like to drink?" asked the Uber shard. "It's on me."<p>

"No, no," the L33t shard insisted. "It's on me. I'm good for it. A rockin' body double, a set of power armour, and a one-size-fits-all stun rifle. I haven't had so much fun since _forever."_

The Hax shard leaned on the bar with its elbows and grinned. "I'll just have water for the moment," it decided. "After all, I want to meet _everyone_ here tonight."

"But you will be coming home with us?" begged the Uber shard.

"Please?" added the L33t shard.

The Hax shard smiled. "Of course. But you don't mind if I see other shards occasionally, do you?"

"Of course not," the Uber shard declared.

"It's too much fun to watch," the L33t shard agreed.

* * *

><p>In a dim corner of the bar, the Jack Slash shard nursed its drink and watched the byplay.<p>

_Meh_,_ _it thought. _I can take her._


End file.
